Rise Of A System Lord: The Cadmus Chronicles
by Curzon
Summary: Neither fully Goa'uld nor Tok'ra but this rising power is going to change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Ancient Egypt, 5000 BC**

In the ancient city of Giza stood one of the largest pyramids in the world, the great pyramid of Giza. Built to house the remains of deceased Pharaohs it was also built as a platform for the "gods", and right at this moment the city was housing a god.

Egeria the Roman goddess of fountains stood on the balcony of her palace overlooking the city below her taking it in. The people below believed she and her kind were gods, beings with untold power's and as such were worshipped by millions.

The only problem was that she wasn't a god nor were her kind. They were in fact aliens from another world. The goa'uld a race of parasitic life forms that took humans and other species as hosts to control. Using advanced technology they portrayed themselves as gods to less advance cultures and demanded that they worship them.

Egeria herself was a goa'uld, however she wasn't like the others. While the majority of her race were power hungry megalomaniacs she wasn't. In fact she was disgusted by her race, there thirst for power and domination knew no limits. They killed thousands, millions of people and other species sometimes even destroying entire star systems just to spite there fellow "gods".

She herself was bonded to the most powerful of the goa'uld, Ra. The supreme system lord who took the guise of the sun god of ancient Egypt. He was cunning, absolutely ruthless, brutal and most of all power hungry.

After untold centuries she couldn't stomach there ways any more. They would never change the way they were. So she sought to change them before they were even born. Being a goa'uld meant they could inherit the genetic knowledge of the queen. However queens could do so much more. They could choose the withhold the knowledge leaving the symbiote as a blank slate but they could also imprint personality traits. Using her abilities she created a new generation of symbiote's but they weren't goa'uld for they were forever known as the Tok'ra.

The Tok'ra literally meaning 'against Ra'. They were vastly different from the goa'uld symbiotes despite sharing the same appearance. These symbiotes had what the goa'uld lacked, compassion. While the goa'uld forcibly took hosts the Tok'ra didn't. What they did was called blending with a willing host. This provided a much deeper bond and trust between symbiote and host. The Tok'ra were committed to destroying the system lords and ultimately Ra. Already hundred's of symbiote's, blended or not had spread out to the stars to begin the rebellion.

Egeria felt confident that with Tok'ra created she could finally announce what she had done to the other system lords. However she felt should have create a back up plan in the event the Tok'ra fall.

She turned from the balcony and looked at the symbiote swimming on the jar before her. This symbiote would be her contingency plan.

This symbiote while not a goa'uld was also not a Tok'ra. It was what she had spent month's trying to perfect. She created hundred's symbiotes all of whom failed until this one. To say she was proud would be an understatement.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Enter" Her voice unnaturally deep for a women.

A servant stepped into the room that contained the "god".

"My god they are ready for you" The servant said.

"Very well let us begin" Egeria replied.

Motioning to the servants to carry the jar containing the symbiote she made her out her room and down an ornately decorated corridor covered in gold hieroglyphs. Reaching the end she entered a room that held an altar upon which laid a human male. There were temple priests that surrounded man chanting in the language of the "gods".

The man on the altar was over six feet and had long black hair that fell to his shoulders. His chest was rising up and down as his breathing became lighter and lighter. Unfortunately the man was dying from a virus. Egeria could have saved the man if she wanted to but she knew she couldn't for her symbiote needed a host.

As the man's chest finally stopped rising Egeria moved over to check the man's pulse. When she could not find one she knew the man was dead. Moving in front of the man's head she began the implantation.

"Bring me the jar" She ordered the servant as he moved down on one knee and presented the jar. Egeria reached in with her hand and symbiote moved into it. Grasping the symbiote she held it next to the man's neck and watched as it entered through the skin.

"Leave" She commanded to the people in the room as they bustled out of the room leaving her alone with the body.

'Please let this work' Egeria thought to herself.

After a tense fifteen minutes the man's finger started to twitch a little before his whole hand started to move then all of a suddenly his eyes shot open.

They were glowing bright yellow.

It worked, she had finally done it. With this completed she let out a deep breath, she didn't know she had been holding in.

"How do you feel my child?" Asked Egeria as she looked at him worryingly.

The man blinked and looked around the room before settling on Egeria.

"I feel confused but I'm sure that will pass eventually" The man responded in a deep unnatural voice.

As the man stood up he stumbled a bit before getting his balance.

"This will take some time to get used too" He said.

"Unfortunately time is something we are in short supply off." Egeria said while handing the man some clothes.

"There is a tel'tak nearby that is filled with supplies you will need for your journey, you will need to hurry before someone discovers it" Egeria said in a hurried voice.

"What about you? What are you going to be doing?" The man asked.

"I must stay here and await for Ra. It was only through good fortune that he was called away from here." She replied.

The man stared at her in disbelief.

"Come with me. Together we can end the reign of the system lords." The man asked.

"No I must stay. When the next meeting of the system lords convene I intend to tell them of what have begun." She said sadly.

"What! Why? If you do that Ra will surely execute you or worse yet bring you back to life just to kill you again. Why would you want that?"

"Because it is my repentance. This change in me didn't just occur over night, it happened over countless centuries during which I witnessed and sometimes participated in unspeakable horror's upon innocent beings. I must pay for that. You and the Tok'ra are my attempt at redemption." Egeria concluded sadly.

"Please don't do this. If you truly want to redeem yourself come with me. With your knowledge we can save countless of innocent beings. Not only that you are perhaps the only queen who can reproduce the Tok'ra. What if Ra or the system lords eventually destroy them?" The man asked.

"That is why I created you. You are my contingency in the event what you have said comes's forth." Egeria said as she looked at her 'child' proudly.

"If you stay here you will die" The man said pointedly.

"Perhaps but I will have spawned a legacy that will last centuries after my death. Because every offspring I have created is a part of me. I will through you and the Tok'ra." Egeria concluded.

"You know I am going to do everything in my power to save you, right?" The man replied.

Egeria chuckled softly before responding.

"Of course I do. I made you like that" She said sounding amused.

Sadly the humorous moment couldn't last forever.

"You should go it's shift change for the guards so you shouldn't run into any of them. The tel'tak is several hundred metres out of the city. This map here should guide you to it." She said handing him a map that showed a way out of the city and too the ship.

"What about the ships in orbit?" The man asked as he looked over the map.

"The tel'tak has a cloaking system, they shouldn't be able to pick you up on there scanners. However the cloak doesn't work in hyperspace so you will need to turn it off before you enter it. I suggest you fly behind this planets moon before you do that, the moon will shield you from there long range scanners as long as they stay in there current positions." Egeria replied.

They soon fell into silence as they both looked at each other. The both knew this may be the last time they see each other.

"I believe this is what humans do to convey affection and love" The man said before he brought Egeria into a strong hug. They stayed like that together for several moments before breaking apart.

"Before you go have you selected a name for your self?" Egeria asked.

The man paused appearing the be deep in thought before answering.

"I rather like the name… Cadmus." He replied with a smirk.

"A Greek name. I would avoid Cronus if I was you. Him and Greeks don't exactly have a happy history together." Egeria said.

"If your memories of him are anything to go by I would say the feeling is mutual." Cadmus replied.

The hugged each other once more.

"This is not goodbye, I will see you again" Cadmus vowed. Before they broke apart and he left for the door not before leaving he turned around and looked at Egeria and with a firm nod he left.

As Egeria gazed at the spot he just left, she knew one way or another Cadmus would change the very foundations of the galaxy.

"Good luck my son" She whispered to him.

* * *

As soon as Cadmus left the palace he moved through the city in a fast pace. Because it was late at night the city was virtually deserted except for the few roaming guards that were still there but they were easy to avoid.

Following the map he appeared outside of the city and followed it's directions to a patch in the middle of the desert. As he approached the empty patch carefully he stretched his arm out and then it he felt the cold metal of the ship that was currently cloaked.

He ran his hand over the sip feeling out the hatch, as soon as he felt it he opened it the ship de cloaked before him and he stepped into the ship. It was a typical goa'uld ship interior with gold hieroglyphs on wall and escape pods on the side. He looked into the cargo hold and couldn't believe what he saw. Egeria hadn't been joking when she said she filled it with supplies. There were crates filled naquadah both liquid and refined. He even spotted several bricks of weapon's grade naquadah. There were several cases of staff weapons and zat'nik'tel's, not too mention what looked like several chests of jewels and treasures.

'Egeria must have been stealing this stuff from Ra for months' Cadmus thought.

But perhaps the most valuable objects he found were what laid in a small wooden box.

A kara'kesh or a goa'uld hand device, a gold one. Also a hand held healing device.

Placing the hand device on him he felt a tingling feeling in his arm as it activated. It would take some time to get used to it.

He moved to the pilots seat and powered the ship up. Despite the fact that he himself had never piloted a spaceship before it felt so natural that he felt he been doing it for years.

As the ship started to take off Cadmus activated the invisibility cloak and aimed for the atmosphere. As he broke into space he saw a dozen ha'tak vessels and several al'kesh protecting the planet below. Weaving through the vessels he set off for the far side of the moon.

When he got the far side of the moon he waited and started planning his next move. What he needed was a base to get started from. It would have to be at least moderately developed. It would take far too long to start on a completely new planet. His best chance at destroying the system lords is from within. It would be far too suspicious if simply showed up to an occupied planet and asked for a job, chances are he would simply be executed. No his best chance was taking over from a minor goa'uld, there were dozens of them but most if not all were affiliated with a system lord and they wouldn't take kindly to him killing one of there under lords. No he would have to take over a goa'uld who was unaffiliated the kind of goa'uld who are so insignificant that the others would care, but who.

He combed his fractured memories before finally settling on someone who matched his requirements. It would take several days to a week to get to this goa'uld's planet but that would give him time to sort through his memories. With his decision made he set course and entered hyperspace.

* * *

Cadmus was deep in thought when a beeping sound alerted him that he was approaching his destination. He had spent that last several days sorting though the sheer wealth of memories and knowledge Egeria had given him, not only her memories but the hosts as well.

Although the host was dead when Cadmus entered him his brain was still active allowing Cadmus access to his memories. It turned out that his host was a warrior with a formidable fighting style that allowed Cadmus to become proficient in hand to hand combat.

But it was Egeria's memories that proved to be the most enthralling. When Queens spawn they can choose what memories to give and what to keep. While most Queens give there spawn the memories of there technical knowledge they also include the DNA of the male symbiote they are born too. More often then not a power hungry tyrant with delusions of grandeur which in turn shows up in there offspring.

With Cadmus she strictly kept it too technical knowledge. She installed in him compassion but ruthlessness, selflessness tempered with a strong desire to survive, ambition hardened with generosity and cunning softened with ethics. All in all he was not a goa'uld or a tok'ra but a mixture of both.

As he returned to the pilots seat he looked out at the star system he was entering before activating his cloak.

The star system he was entering belonged to a very minor goa'uld named Imhotep. Despite the fact the he came up with the idea of pyramids as landing pad's for the ha'taks he never achieved any real power, in fact he was so insignificant that some of the system lords thought he was dead. Which was perfect for Cadmus because if they thought he was already dead they won't come looking for him when Cadmus kill's him.

As Cadmus piloted his ship to towards Imhotep's home world he could see a measly three al'kesh in orbit. He set forth through the atmosphere and landed a few kilometre's out of town.

The planet itself was roughly the same size as Earth with three continents and several islands on it all surrounded by water.

As he stepped out of the ship onto the continent that contained Imhotep's main population centre he could see it was a world similar to Apophis's home world Chulak.

Cadmus made his way to one of the outlying villages that surrounded the main city. As he entered the village he could that taking over from Imhotep would be a pleasure. The people here lived in abject poverty. The smell of death and despair hung in the air like a bad omen. People here lived in tent's made out of sticks and cloth, it was disgusting to him that a leader could let his people live like this.

He saw a gathering of people surrounding one tent in particular. As he made his way to the tent people instinctively moved out of the way and gazed unabashedly at the stranger.

"What is happening" Cadmus asked in a normal human voice.

One of the villagers scrutinised him before answering.

"Our village elder is ill and we have nothing that heal him." The villager said with a worried face.

"May I please enter the tent, perhaps I can be of assistance." Cadmus asked the villagers.

They parted allowing Cadmus to enter and kneel next to the elderly gentlemen.

"What ail's you honoured one?" Cadmus asked the elder.

"He has contracted a sickness from working in the mine shafts for too long." A woman next to the elder answered. Judging from the similarities between her and the elder Cadmus would say they are related, father and daughter perhaps.

"Why does he work in the mine shaft at his age, shouldn't he be enjoying the twilight of his years in peace?" Cadmus asked the woman.

"Our god demands that we work in the mine's to supply him with naquadah. No matter how much harder it is getting to extract it he keeps demanding more. Pretty soon there won't be any left and I fear what he will do to us when that happens." The woman said bitterly.

Several other villagers muttered in approval of the woman's words.

"Maybe I can ease the burden for him" Cadmus said before putting his left hand in his pocket and taking out the healing device. He didn't bring many items with him from the ship only his hand device, a zat'nik'tel and a dagger hidden in boot.

Cadmus waved his hand with the device on it over the elders body and focused on trying to heal him. A golden light shot out of the device bathing the village elder while a distinct humming sound.

The elder opened his eyes in surprise at the sensation he was feeling in his body.

"The pain it is easing" The elder gasped between breaths before Cadmus finished.

Once Cadmus had finished he put the device back in his pocket before turning back to the elder.

"I have removed the sickness for now. However if you continue to work in the mine's at your age it will return and I may not be able to heal it next time." Cadmus said to the elder.

The villagers looked at the newcomer with wide eyes and stunned silence. The powers they witnessed were only seen from the "gods".

"He wields the healing powers of the gods." One of the villagers gasped.

The daughter tore her eyes from the stranger and looked at her father who was staring at the man who healed him with shrewd eyes.

"Are you a god?" The elder asked.

"No" Cadmus replied in an even tone.

"Then how do you explain your powers."

"That explanation would take some time. However before that I ask you all one question." Cadmus said as he turned to the group that had gathered.

"Are you happy?" He asked. A simple question if there was ever one.

"Are you happy with your lives? Are you happy with the way things are? The hunger? The Diseases? The squalor you are forced to live in? Wondering day after day whether or not this is day you die. The forced labour in the mines for a leader who does nothing but take and give nothing in return." Cadmus asked in an impassioned tone.

The gatherers were enraptured with his speech. The more they thought about it, the more they realised that they weren't happy.

"When you have asked yourself that, then ask yourself this question" He continued to the growing group. He looked at everyone of them before asking.

"Are you willing to do whatever it takes to change it?"

The entire group was silent, before a very someone asked a very important question.

"Who are you?" The daughter of the elder asked with wide eyes.

The stranger turned to the daughter with a smirk on his face.

"What my name is not important, What I can do for you is. If your tired of the way things are, then I ask you to gather other like minded people and join me in the forest that surrounds this village in two rotations of this planets moon. There I will explain everything. But be careful of who you tell, what I will tell you will be dangerous to hear. I guarantee you this is something you do not want to miss." Cadmus said before moving to the entrance of the tent. Just before he left he turned around to the woman.

"Oh and miss, My name is Cadmus." And with that he left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Days Later.**

In a clearing in the forest that surrounded the village, stood Cadmus with his cloak covering him and holding a sack, awaiting those who will come listen to what he has to say. He had spent the two days preparing what he was going to say to the villagers that would convince them to rebel against Imhotep.

He finally settled on just telling them the truth along with displays of the gods "powers". He didn't think it would take much to convince them to rebel. The people of this world were tired, hungry and most of all angry with the way things are. All it would take was a single spark to set off full scale rebellion.

He was broken out of his musing when the first villagers arrived. The first one's were the village elder being aided by his daughter, then those who were at the tent that and heard his speech followed by others he didn't know.

Before he knew it the clearing was filled with people who came to hear what he had to say, there were well over a hundred men and women and even a couple children that walked with there parents.

When everyone had finally arrived and gathered, Cadmus knew it was time. The village elder walked in front of the group and called for there attention.

"We all know why we are here, two moons ago I was on death's door until a stranger from another place came and healed me using the powers of the gods. But unlike Imhotep he did not ask for anything in return. All he asked was 'Are we happy?'. A question we have never asked ourselves for fear of repercussions from Imhotep and his Jaffa, but I no longer care about Imhotep" The villagers gasped and looked around in fear in case of Imhotep or the Jaffa heard him, but the elder carried on regardless.

"For too long we have suffered under this 'god', when we can't provide tribute because of sickness or a shortage of naquadah he executes those who are sick and demand's we go back to work. His jaffa routinely beat and torture us for entertainment. We can't even get enough food to properly feed our children. What kind of god is that? Not mine!" The elder finished yelling the last part of his speech.

"And now we have an opportunity to change that. To give our children a better future. This person who healed me has finally opened my eyes to what we can truly accomplish together, all I ask is that you listen him and heed his words." The elder concluded in a softer tone.

Now it was time for Cadmus to speak. Moving to a small hill overlooking the clearing he took a deep breath.

"What I am about to tell you but more importantly what I'm about to show you will change your very understanding of the universe. Remember this day, for this is the your entire life changed." Cadmus said in a calm but decisive voice.

"You believe Imhotep is your god. But what is a god? Does a god feed the hungry? Does a god protect his followers from those who would do them harm? Does a god heal the sick? If that is the definition of a god, than Imhotep is no god." That statement set off murmurs through out the whole group.

"Some of you doubt my words, but what if I can show you the true face of a god. Would you then listen to what I have to say?" Getting a murmur of agreement from the villagers he placed his hand into the sack he was carrying.

"Behold the face of god"

Then he yanked his hand out of the sack held in front of the villagers. What he was holding caused the villagers to shriek in shock and take several steps back. For what he was holding was something that was akin to blasphemy.

A live Goa'uld symbiote.

Cadmus had taken it from the incubation pouch of Jaffa he had killed this morning. He was going to use this symbiote to ignite the rebellion.

"This is what Imhotep really is. Nothing more then an overgrown worm. They are called the goa'uld and they use humans like you as slaves to do there bidding. They forcibly take over human bodies and use them hosts for them. There so called powers is nothing more than alien technology."

The symbiote continued to shriek and hiss in his hand trying to escape before Cadmus tore the symbiote's head off and threw it on the ground.

The whole clearing was stunned silent. They had just a seen a god in it's natural form, a pathetic form at that. There entire belief system was just shattered. What Cadmus had just done should not off been possible, a god can't be killed. Yet there at there feet was the body of a god.

"But what about there powers?" One of the villagers called out.

"Nothing more than simple technology" Cadmus replied. He raised his hand device and aimed it at a boulder in the ground.

A wave of force shout out of the device and shattered the boulder. He then held his hand up so all the villagers could see the device he was wearing.

The same villager asked a question, that they had all been wanting to ask.

"If you can do the same powers as Imhotep, does that you are a Goa'uld.?"

Everyone stared at Cadmus, some fearfully, others worshipful, the rest suspiciously. He waited several seconds before answering.

"I am the same species as the Goa'uld but different in so many ways. The same similarities between a dog and a wolf. They see you as little more than cattle, I do not. They will see that you are kept ignorant of your true potential, kept down and beaten so that you remain weak. I am not like that for I see what you are truly capable off. You can be so much more then they could ever possibly imagine. To those ends I intend destroy the Goa'uld and replace them with something that benefits everybody. To do that I need your help. If you join me I show you a future so much brighter than this. If that is what you want all you have to do is grab it." He finished.

The whole gathering was silent pondering Cadmus's words. Just five minutes ago everything they believed in was shattered. They had been taken for utter fools, They had sacrificed and squandered there lives for a false god. The question now was 'what now?'. They could continue with there lives as if nothing had happened and maybe they would get to live for a few more years. But what they were doing now was more existing rather than living. Those who had families had a lot to think about. Could they subject there families lives to this existence or should they take a chance on a better future.

The silence was broken by a voice that echoed over the gathering.

"I will join you. I'm sick of the way life is here and I want the chance to make it better." The village elder said and then he did something that surprised everybody even Cadmus. He got done on one knee and looked Cadmus in the eye.

"What is your command, my lord"

The village elder was quickly joined by his daughter on one knee and then another and another before everyone in the clearing were on one knee awaiting instructions.

Cadmus looked over the group of people before him and saw the determination in there eyes to crush the goa'uld for deceiving them and to create a better and brighter future for them and there families, one with him leading it.

The rebellion had finally begun.

* * *

In the following weeks and months people would notice how more and more people were going into the Forrest. Just two or three people at a time but the frequency of the people going there was certainly odd. The majority paid it no mind but a select group of people knew exactly what was going on.

Everyday small groups of men and women would go into a clearing to meet with Cadmus. He would then lead them to his tel'tak where he would then fly them to an abandoned part of the continent. Once they were there he would train them in how to fight a war. He showed them how to use the staff weapons and the zat'nik'tel's where he had set up a firing range where they practised there accuracy. The villagers who were good at hunting were natural with the staff weapons.

He even showed the groups his host's fighting style. It was a formidable martial art called mastaba they relied on using there feet as much as there hands.

Those who weren't training would gather intelligence about Imhotep and his Jaffa, such as strategic positions, guard schedules and routes, and recruiting similar dissatisfied people to there cause.

Using the information gathered by the network they were able to come up with multiple plan of attacks and contingencies. They were also able to steal supplies such as more staff weapons and zat'nik'tel's. One person even managed to get there hands on some tok'kal or stun grenade's.

They managed to identify senior member's of Imhotep's inner circle, his first prime, favoured Jaffa and the like.

The network had even managed to get an informer inside of the pyramid complex where Imhotep resided. Cadmus wondered why Imhotep had a pyramid, he didn't even have a ha'tak. Using the information the informer provided they now had a map of the complex. Where the throne room was, the transport rings, the Jaffa guards positions and there barracks but most importantly Imhotep's private residence.

The issue that concerned them however were the al'kesh in orbit. They had to figure out a way to get them to come to the surface together. The al'kesh didn't have any transport rings so that idea was out. They couldn't use Cadmus's tel'tak because he only had one and he would have to de-cloak to board an al'kesh, the other two al'kesh would open fire then. No the only way was to get them to the surface.

While he was pondering that problem he was also thinking about the future should they pull this off. The people of this world were broken, while he could fix them and there society it would take time. They could do basic reading and writing, but they didn't have any understanding beyond that. It was going to take nearly two generations of people with a strong focus on education before he could start making plans for the rest of the galaxy.

He broke out of his musing and looked at the information before him on Imhotep and his Jaffa. Imhotep despite being noted for building the pyramids really didn't do anything construction wise on his own home world. Apart from his own residence and barracks for his Jaffa, the majority of people shacks or tents around the complex.

There was no sewage system created so dysentery was a major problem for the population. Poor planning resulted in low crop yields from farms causing food shortages, of course not for Imhotep he kept the majority of the food harvested for himself and his Jaffa and gave only the bare minimum to his people.

The naquadah mines were using inefficient techniques and tools that barely any naquadah was being refined. So instead of coming up with better methods he simply pushed his people harder and harsher causing sickness and death.

All in all when this rebellion is over and Cadmus is in control, he is going to have to institute major reforms over the whole population most of which will take at least a decade before they start becoming productive. It's a good thing he could live for so long.

Cadmus stopped his musing and looked at the people he was helping train today. This group was the most advanced, the one's who picked up the techniques he was teaching them the quickest. It was a mix of men and women all united in one vision, Freedom.

But there was also another trait in this group that made them stand above the others.

Loyalty.

This group was almost fanatically loyal to Cadmus. He had noticed it during the first couple of weeks of training. The way they would do whatever he asked, always deferring final decisions to him and the way they would look at him was something akin to awe.

He had tried to tell them that they should focus on betterment of there own people instead of him but if anything that made them more devout. So in the end he had accepted them as they were and began teaching them more advanced techniques such as mastaba and how to pilot the tel'tak.

There was one in the class that stood out even in this advanced group, the village elders daughter who he learned was called Hasina. She consistently defeated her opponents in hand to hand combat even if they were taller and stronger she was faster. Her aim with a staff weapon was was always within the top three and she took to flying the tel'tak like a natural.

But the one thing that made her stand out from the rest was something completely unpredictable and unreliable.

Luck.

The one thing he could always use on his side was luck and for some reason Hasina had that in spades. That's why after the rebellion was over and he was the leader he was going to name Hasina as his first prime. She will be the first female first prime in history.

"My lord" A loud voice called out behind him. Cadmus turned around to see one of the rebels running towards him, once the rebel reached Cadmus he immediately dropped to one knee and began to speak.

"A jaffa patrol was caught at the perimeter of the encampment, they've been disarmed and bound. What are your orders, my lord?" The rebel said in breathless tone.

This had the potential of being a major problem. Because it was just a normal patrol then it meant that they weren't there looking for signs of a rebellion. However when they wouldn't report back then more Jaffa are going to be sent looking for them increasing the chance of discovery and word getting back to Imhotep.

"Take me to them." He ordered in the symbiote voice.

When Cadmus arrived to the clearing he saw four jaffa on there knee's bound and gagged and four rebels standing behind them with staff weapons aimed at the back of there heads.

Cadmus walked over and slowly scrutinised each Jaffa looking for any signs of distress. One was all but frothing at the mouth in anger, he wouldn't be much help chances are he's a zealot.

Two others while not as enraged as the first one, were glaring at Cadmus and the rebels with hatred and malice. No luck there then.

But the last one met his parameters. Head down, eyes averting when ever he looked around or at him and the rebels and slightly trembling. Perfect.

Kneeling down he gently removed the gag and looked at the young jaffa in they eyes.

"What is your name?" Cadmus asked.

The young Jaffa looked about to answer and then glanced at the other three hostages and then clamped his mouth shut.

The other three jaffa were all glaring at the young one as if conveying that if he answered he would die.

Cadmus sighed and with a small nod of his head to the rebels holding the staff weapons, they promptly fired into the back of three jaffa's head's. As a testament to there training they did it without hesitation or mercy.

The young jaffa shrieked out loud and jumped away from the fallen bodies. The Jaffa was dragged back before Cadmus.

"I won't ask again." Cadmus said with a menacing tone.

"My n-n-n-name is Shac'nor." The jaffa said in a stuttering tone.

"Why did you come here?"

"We w-w-were on our routine patrol when we heard suspicious noises and we investigated. When we were captured shortly after observing this gathering." He said quickly.

"Did you report in before you were captured?"

"No we didn't have a chance."

"Who else know's your patrol Route?"

"The commander of our troop and the overseer of patrol's"

So two high ranking Jaffa would notice these men not reporting.

'Damn' He thought.

"How long until you have to report" Cadmus asked.

"Six Hours."

Six hours until the whole rebellion is exposed. So that meant Cadmus had six hours to come up with a plan to replace three dead Jaffa and one terrified prisoner.

'Damn' He thought again.

* * *

 **Ten Hours Later.**

As night fell in the city the last patrol walked into the city dragging there feet intent on heading to there barracks for sleep before a voice called out to them.

"YOU MEN, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? YOUR FOUR HOURS OVERDUE!" The commander of the there troop yelled while walking up to them.

As he got closer he took in there appearance. The patrol was bloodied up and covered in mud. The commander would have thought they were in a battle, if not for the fact that there weren't any enemies on the planet.

"What happened to you. You look like you've been stampede by a herd of wild bull's." The commander exclaimed.

"It is funny you should say that master, for that is exactly what happened. We were on a regular patrol path when we came across a herd of cattle. They were startled by our appearance and stampeded in our direction before we could get so much as a blast off. While we weren't mortally injured we did have have several injured bones and we had to wait for our prim'ta to heal us. Unfortunately during the incident our communication device was damaged beyond repair." Kor'el, the leader of the jaffa finished. He pulled out the ball shaped device from his pocket where it clearly showed extensive damage.

The commander scrutinised the device before shaking his resignedly.

"Very well then. Clean yourselves up before retiring for the evening. You should be healed by the morning". The commander said before walking away muttering about idiotic Jaffa.

"Yes Master" The four Jaffa replied obediently.

The patrol shuffled towards the barracks tiredly before entering there assigned room. Once the door was closed and locked they quickly discarded there armour before slipping into black overall's and pulling hoods over there heads.

The pulled out a sack and began arming themselves with knives and zat'nik'tel's.

'Kor'el' pulled out an undamaged communication device began speaking into it.

"My lord, were in." The rebel said before a voice replied.

"Begin phase one."

* * *

Thanks to the intelligence collected by the network, they had determined that Imhotep had between one hundred to two hundred Jaffa. Fifty Jaffa were protecting Imhotep and the pyramid complex at all times. Twenty five Jaffa patrolled the city while the other twenty five patrolled the outlying areas. The other one hundred were off duty and resting in the barracks.

One of the worrying aspects of the plan was the wall. Imhotep had constructed a ten metre high wall that circled the pyramid complex and the barracks, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the city.

There was only one way in through the gate house which was guarded by Jaffa at all times with a plasma cannon emplacement placed on the top of the building giving it an overhead advantage against any intruder.

The gate house itself was comprised of two solid wrought iron gate's. The placed on both sides of the wall. They could never be opened at the same time as they were each other's counter weight on the pulley system. While one gate went up and was opened the other went down and closed thus preventing a straight run through the gate house.

It was an effective defence against any intruders from the outside. However if an intruder was already inside the city then it was a different situation all together.

That situation explained why the Jaffa currently assigned to the guardhouse were all bleeding out from there throats after being attacked from behind.

The rebels had just secured the gatehouse with out a shot fired and were preparing to open the gate for the rest of the rebel forces.

It took two people to open the gate so while they did that the other two rebels prepared to open the second gate.

They came up with a rather simple solution to keeping both gates open at the same time. Just jam something between one gate that's opening and the ground and that should keep the second gate from descending. That explained why are horse drawn cart was turned on it's back side and was currently holding up the second gate at a height that allowed people to walk under it without crawling.

Once that was done the rebels grabbed two fire torch's off the wall and crossed them together making an X sending the signal to the rest of the forces.

The noise was the first thing that indicated the message had been received. Hundreds of muffled running footsteps before the first rebels came into view. Emerging from the darkness all dressed in black overalls like an army of ants running towards the gatehouse in complete silence. The sight was fear inducing and also awe inspiring.

* * *

Rac'shor and Shor'nac were two of the jaffa patrolling the inner city tonight. An easy job if there ever was one. All they had to do was keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour and make sure the slaves were doing there jobs and that was it. Sometimes they had to commit violence but there god Imhotep commanded it so it was all right by them.

"Did you hear about Kor'el and his patrol?" Rac'shor asked his fellow Jaffa.

"No what happened?" Shor'nac responded.

So Rac'shor began filling him on the hilarious gossip he had heard completely unaware they were being stalked.

"They had come in over two hours overdue completely covered in mud and blood and you will never believe what caused it." Rac'shor said while laughing.

"What was it?" Shor'nac asked eagerly.

Unfortunately Shor'nac would never find out was had befallen Kor'el because at that very moment a knife had entered the back of his neck severing the spinal column and exiting through his throat killing him instantly.

Rac'shor looked shocked at his friends brutal and bloody death before turning to bring his staff weapon on the unseen opponent.

The moment he did that was the moment he died for when he turned to face the person who killed his friend he turned his back on the other rebel he hadn't even seen. Rac'shor was dead before he hit the ground.

The rebels stood over the deceased Jaffa underneath them looking at them with disgust before one pulled out a communication device out of his pocket.

"Two Jaffa Down, south quadrant." The rebel said before putting the device away and vanishing into the darkness.

* * *

All over the inner city the Jaffa patrols were being silently slaughtered by the highly trained rebels. As the rebels killed the patrols they got closer and closer to the pyramid complex and there ultimate objective, Imhotep.

The first indication the Jaffa got that something was wrong was when there patrols suddenly stopped reporting in. Then when they couldn't get in contact with the gatehouse did they realise that they were under attack.

Sounding the alarm, Jaffa all over the city or what was left of them suddenly went on high alert.

The Jaffa who had been resting in the barracks were scrambling to put on there armour and grab there staff weapons to go meet the enemy. Unfortunately for them the enemy had already anticipated this move.

As the Jaffa rushed out of the barracks and down the main street, they failed to notice the several dozen eyes and staff weapons watching them from the darkness. The two dozen Jaffa at the front of the stampeding group were cut down by a massive salvo of staff fire before they could even realise they were being fired at.

After that it became a one sided slaughter. Because the goa'uld never really trained the jaffa beyond how to point and fire a staff weapon, they didn't understand the concept of taking cover. So they simply fired with reckless abandon at where they thought the enemy was hiding but because they were panicking they ended up causing friendly fire as well.

At the end of the battle of the one hundred jaffa who had been running down the street over eighty were dead and the rest were seriously wounded unlikely to survive even with the healing powers of the symbiote. For the rebels there losses were negligible with only a few rebels being hit with lucky shots.

* * *

Sor'en could not believe what was happening. They were under attack and not only that, they were losing badly. The first prime of Imhotep was running down the corridor to his god's personal quarters. He only prayed Imhotep would understand what was happening and not punish him for disturbing him

Knocking quickly and hearing no response he entered the room and went straight to the sarcophagus in the centre of the room and proceeded to awake Imhotep.

As the sarcophagus opened Sor'en kneeled on the ground and waited.

"You had better have a good reason for disturbing me or your life shall become forfeit." An unnaturally deep voice said before him.

"My god I do have a good reason. We are currently under attack." Sor'en said quickly while still kneeling on the ground.

"WHAT?" Imhotep screamed.

"We have lost control of the gate house and the inner city,, the Jaffa on patrol's are not responding and the reinforcements from the barracks have been killed. We are currently holding the pyramid complex however we are surrounded on all sides." Sor'en said hoping Imhotep wouldn't take his anger out on him.

Imhotep was stunned speechless. He couldn't believe he was actually under attack. He had always known it was a possibility but he thought that he minor enough not to warrant any attention from any other goa'uld. The fact that the attackers had already taken the majority of the city was shocking.

"Who is attacking me?" He demanded.

"We do not know my god. They struck in silence and had taken out the majority of your jaffa before we could react. All we know is that there covered in completely black clothing and they appear to be humanoid."

'That makes no sense' Imhotep thought.

If it was a rival goa'uld then they would send in there jaffa through the most obvious way, through the gatehouse. And they would do it by sending there jaffa in front end assaults using sheer numbers to overwhelm any defences, not strike from the shadows like cowards.

"My god what are your orders?" Sor'en asked.

Imhotep flashed his eyes dangerously at being interrupted before calming himself. He couldn't punish his first prime, if his information was correct he would need every Jaffa he could get.

"Take me to the control room. I will get in contact with al'kesh in orbit and ask them bomb this enemy army from the sky." Imhotep concluded.

They exited his residence where half a dozen jaffa quickly took up potions surrounding there god protecting him. As they turned around the corner they saw two jaffa at the end of the corridor quickly cut down. That's when Imhotep got his first look at the unseen enemy.

Three figures dressed in black turned around the corner and dropped to one knee aiming there staff weapons at Imhotep and his jaffa. The jaffa in turn raised there weapons and prepared to fire.

"STOP" a voice called out from around the corner.

"Leaving so soon Imhotep, without even saying goodbye." Before a figure stepped out wearing a black cloak leaving only his mouth visible which was currently sporting a superior smirk.

The cloaked figure was quickly joined by another three figures who took up over watching positions behind him aiming there staff weapons.

"So you are the person leading this attack. You should not of come here yourself, for that stupidity you will pay with your life." Imhotep said arrogantly while flashing his eyes in a display of power.

The reaction from the figure was completely unexpected. The figure let out a deep belly laugh.

"You think I am intimidated by you. If I was one of your slaves that little trick would have it's desired effect but seeing as I'm not one of your slaves all it does is make me laugh and pity your remaining Jaffa for they have no Idea what you are and it's going to get them killed. Because you and me we know the truth, don't we Imhotep?" The figure asked rhetorically before the figure did something else that was completely unexpected.

From underneath the hood, Imhotep and his Jaffa saw the figure's eye's flash gold. Imhotep let out a gasp in surprise.

"Who are you? Did the system lords send you?" Imhotep demanded. The figure merely chuckled.

"You are a god, shouldn't you be all knowing?" The figure asked with a mocking tone.

Imhotep glowered at the figure.

"It makes no difference to me who you are, you will die just as quickly." Imhotep said as he raised his hand device to fire.

"Not if I kill you first." The figure said just as a knife slid into his hand and was quickly thrown in Imhotep's direction and embedded in his hand device disabling it.

Imhotep roared in anger and pain as a short skirmish between the Jaffa and the rebels. Which ended in the rebel's favour.

Imhotep looked up at the enemy soldiers in anger and a healthy degree of fear while cradling his wounded bleeding hand.

"You think this will kill me? I am a god you dull creature and I will not vanquished by the likes of you!." Imhotep spat out to the assembled rebels who merely stood silently looking down on him.

"On the contrary I think you will find that wound quite fatal." The figure said calmly as one of the rebels behind him held up a small silver ball.

* * *

 **30 Minutes Ago, City Centre**

The inhabitants and slaves of the city were first alerted to the rebellion when the sound of staff blaster fire from the ambush on Imhotep's reinforcements tore out through out the city. As the villagers went to investigate they saw a full fledged battle between the jaffa and figures dressed in black. What was the most surprising was that the jaffa were losing badly.

When the battle was over the villagers thinking they were next to be attacked began running back to there homes only stopping when they heard a voice telling them to stop. Turning around to look at the person who called out they were given the surprise of a lifetime.

The figures in black turned out to be there fellow villagers. The rebels then proceeded to there fellow villagers what they were doing and why. Seeing that some of them were not convinced, the rebels brought out a device called a vo'cume projector and placed in the city centre.

A massive holographic projection shot out from the device showing a figure in a black cloak battling there god's Jaffa and beating them. Then they saw there god themselves and all instantly kneeled except the rebels, and waited for there god to destroy the figure in the black cloak. Instead of outright destroying the figure Imhotep began talking to it and the villagers watched and listened the entire time…

* * *

 **Present Time.**

It took a moment for Imhotep to comprehend just how horrible a situation he was in before it dawned on him and he looked at the figure with a horrified expression.

The figure let out a vicious smile.

"If you can make god bleed, then people will cease to believe in him and then the sharks will circle. If you look at you hand you will notice you are bleeding quite heavily."

Imhotep was practically catatonic and didn't even protest as he was roughly pulled up to his feet dragged outside. Just before they left the were signalled to stop.

"Oh and Imhotep" Imhotep merely looked at the figure with a defeated expression.

The figure pulled down his cloak showing his true face.

"My name is Cadmus. Remember that name in the after life."

Imhotep was then dragged out side to face the "his" people.

"My lord, what about the al'kesh in orbit?" One of the rebels asked.

"They are awaiting for orders from there god. Let's go talk to them."

Cadmus and the remaining rebels went to the control room. The control room was filled with technologies such as long range scanners and sensors and crystal powered computer systems. Walking over to the communication terminal, Cadmus contacted the al'kesh in orbit and spoke in his symbiote voice.

"Jaffa this is your god Imhotep. A rebellion within the city has erupted and it is now necessary for me to cleanse the city of the filth. You are too bring all three vessels to these coordinates and await for me and my entourage. To ensure we are not targeted by the slaves we will be dressed in completely black attire. Under no circumstances are you to engage anyone dressed in black. Failure to listen to my commands will result in me taking your life and cursing you to the underworld for eternity." Cadmus finished in his best 'god' impression.

Once he got confirmation from the jaffa on board the ships, he sent several squads of rebels to attack the vessels once they landed and take them for himself.

"My lord we have searched the pyramid complex and the city. There are no more Jaffa alive." Hasina reported to him. She had been in some of the thickest of the fighting using her new found skills to defeat Jaffa left right and centre.

"What of the Jaffa patrolling the outlying villages?" Cadmus asked.

"They too have been defeated. Your prediction that they would retreat back to the city once the fighting begun was correct. The one's that survived the initial ambush retreated to the city only to be killed by those waiting at the gate house." The rebel said proudly.

"And Imhotep, What of his fate?" Cadmus asked.

"Once the population found out he was a false god, they were to put it mildly, livid. The last I saw of him he was being tied to a wooden pole about to be set on fire alive." The rebel finished with a dark chuckle.

'Couldn't happen to a nicer person' Cadmus thought.

"Then you have done it. You and the people now have your freedom. No more oppression you are free to choose your own destiny." Cadmus said as he walked out of the control room.

Hasina fell in step beside him. As Cadmus walked outside the complex he could a massive crowd gathered around a fire that was growing in strength. It seemed that everyone was making sure the false god was well and truly dead.

Cadmus was then joined by the advanced group of rebels he trained.

"My lord we could not have done this without you. Before we were simple people scared by flashing lights and ignorant of our true potential. Now we feel like we can accomplish anything with you leading us and once the people have recovered from Imhotep's betrayal they will gladly follow, I am sure of it. Your destiny is our destiny and we pledge our lives to you willingly" Hasina said passionately and immediately dropped to one knee and slammed a fist over her heart. The action was quickly mirrored by the rest of the group before they said the same chant over and over again.

"ALL HAIL LORD CADMUS"

Cadmus looked over the group with pride. He knew this group right here was going to be the vanguard of his new empire, one that will ascend him to levels higher then the system lords could ever imagined.

It was a destiny he was created for.


	3. Chapter 3

**50 Years Later.**

To say that the people under Cadmus's rule thrived would be an understatement. In fact the place looked completely unrecognisable. Gone were the tents made out of sticks and cloth replaced with properly built homes and buildings made out of bricks and solid wood. Where once dusty dirt tracks were the main streets now laid paved cobblestone roads. It was truly a golden age for the people of Cadmus.

After the revelation of Imhotep and his subsequent death the people of the world were hurt and scared of the future. With the help of the rebels, the people of the world decided Cadmus was the only one strong and fair enough to lead them.

In the beginning the people were wary of being led by a false god again, but after Cadmus proved that he wasn't a god only an alien they allowed him to be there leader. Once there lives began to improve under his rule they finally started to accept him as there leader.

After ten years of rule and many reforms and improvements the people of the world were firmly loyal to Cadmus, so much so they elected him to be there eternal leader. One of the first reforms that Cadmus had enacted was choosing a name for the planet. After deciding whether he should stick with an Egyptian name, he finally decided on a name. From there on the planet was called Thebes.

Unlike the majority of goa'uld controlled worlds where the populace was kept at a certain development level so as to keep them under control, Cadmus allowed development and learning as it would allow the people grow stronger and by extension him. That's why after the rebellion, the pyramid complex was searched for any items worth keeping and then immediately taken down and disassembled, it's materials being recycled to build school's and homes. That act garnered even more loyalty from the people.

Because of the improved living conditions the planet underwent a population surge. To match the population surge different industries had to be created to provide jobs for the people. Where as before where the people worked in either the mines or the farms they now had a lot more options.

The mines before Cadmus arrived had obviously seen better days. The people used to use mining pick's and shovels to extract naquadah and then carry it by hand to the surface or in a sack slung around there shoulders. Now they used modern tools such as jack hammer's powered by liquid naquadah similar to a staff weapon. They no longer had to carry it by hand either. A powered cart system carried the naquadah to the surface and then into the refinery. With these improved techniques the production level soared with new deposits being discovered every month.

The farming practices had also seen an update in techniques. For one Cadmus introduced the concept of irrigation where before the people had waited for the wet season. An aqueduct was constructed bring water from the mountains down the valley and into the city and farms. The result being crops able to grow all year long.

One avenue Cadmus particularly encouraged was the pursuit of science and technology. Those who wanted to learn in depth were sent to the Thebian science academy where they learned physics, chemistry, engineering and other scientific disciplines. They were also taught about various goa'uld technologies and researched ways to improve them.

But that wasn't all the people could do now, thanks to being educated they could now do a wide range of jobs from archaeology to manufacturing. Thebes now had the infrastructure and personnel necessary to build there own small to medium size space craft. However they couldn't be seen in the open yet.

Because Thebes and Cadmus were still essentially minor compared to the rest of the Goa'uld collective they had to appear as insignificant so as not to arouse suspicion, that's why Cadmus ordered that all spacecraft and manufacturing of spacecraft underground. Thank's to Imhotep mining all over the continent there were numerous mine shafts and caverns with enough space to set up a secret weapons manufacturing industry.

Cadmus also ordered that all citizens undergo combat training. So once a month Citizens had to take hand to hand combat training and staff weapons training on a firing range in the event they had to fight for lives again.

However the buildings and infrastructure were nothing compared to the change that happened to the people. Where they were once weak simple minded peasants they had evolved into a strong united society bolstered by there unwavering faith in Cadmus.

After the revolution the rebels who wished to continue training and fighting full time were organised in what become the first of many legions of Cadmus. What started of as a group of rag tag rebels evolved into a two thousand strong professional army with another thousand in reserve.

While the Jaffa of the system lords were little more than cannon fodder, the legions of Cadmus were trained for eighteen months in tactics and warfare. In Cadmus's mind it was quality over quantity, precision over brute power.

Because he couldn't contend with the system lords who had millions of jaffa at there command, he had to use superior technology and tactics to close the gap so he began providing his legions better equipment from his secret weapons factories.

Most goa'uld simply outfit there jaffa with chain mail armour and a staff weapon, like jaffa there easy to replace. Cadmus however did something completely different. He along with scientists from the academy managed to create a low cost armour that could absorb up to a dozen staff blast's before failing. Before receiving the armour the soldiers were extensively trained to dodge staff blasts where possible.

Another improvement was the redesign of the staff weapon. While the staff weapon served it's purpose in installing fear to backwater populations, it was pretty pathetic weapon in combat. Too long, too unwieldy, no aiming sights to speak off and a low rate of fire.

The new mark.1 weapon looked like a staff weapon that had been chopped off down the middle. A wooden butt had been added to the end to give better accuracy. Where once you had to press a button in the middle of the staff to fire it, the new mark.1 had a proper trigger mechanism added and a fore grip placed near the front of the weapon for increased accuracy. The firing rate of the mark.1 was also increased, it now fired double the rate of a normal staff weapon however it was less powerful taking two or three shots to kill as opposed to one. With the training and upgrades in technology, A single person in the legion was worth at least five Jaffa.

At the moment Cadmus was in one his many private laboratories spread across around the continent. The research he conducted in these labs were for the benefit of his people and ultimately him but was too sensitive to let out in the open. In the lab were the symbiotes taken from the dead Jaffa after the revolution. He was currently studying the symbiotes physiology in the hope it would be possible to replicate the benefits of a symbiote without the drawbacks, he was already having success. Twenty years ago he had mapped the symbiotes gene's allowing him to unlock many secrets of the symbiote.

Thanks to his research he could currently extend the human life span considerably from an average of 50-60 years old to over 125 years old easily. However the accelerated healing and increased intelligence and strength were still being researched. A beeping noise on his hand device broke Cadmus out of his research.

"My lord it's time for the council meeting." A voice came through. Signalling his acknowledgement, he shut down the lab and activated the security measures before stepping on a transport ring.

Reappearing in a stately room he took a moment to change into more appropriate clothing then the one's he wears in the lab. As he stepped out of his room he walked down the corridor where he was quietly joined by four figures in black cloaks, two in front and two behind. His personal guard, The Knights Of Cadmus.

The successor to the advanced group of rebels Cadmus had originally trained, these people were the personal protector's of Cadmus and his residence, personally trained by Hasina and the original advanced group. What separated them from the rest of the legion was the training and discipline. No one applied, you were quietly asked if you would like to try out. What followed is an intensive training and tests where if you failed just one test, you failed the entire course.

To be even considered to ask to join, people had to meet a certain standard. Above average intelligence, high fitness qualifications and good recommendations from there superior officer. But one of the most sought after trait's in potential recruits was loyalty. Most of all loyalty towards Cadmus. Those who displayed certain devotion towards Cadmus were watched for potential recruitment.

To aid in there protection of Cadmus they were given the most up to date technological developments. One of the devices they wielded was a variant of hand device shield designed by Cadmus personally. On a goa'uld hand device the user could activate a shield that encompassed the wearer however the wearer couldn't move with the shield activated or it wouldn't work.

The one designed by Cadmus was a device worn on the forearm similar too a gauntlet. Made out of a sleek black alloy with a blue gem native to Thebes placed in the middle of the device worn on the outside of the forearm that projected the shield. Unlike the goa'uld one's this shield was similar to the wooden shields used by primitive cultures only it was created out of energy. The way this shield was designed allowed the knights to move while keeping the shield active and because the shield was one way they could fire through the shield while it blocked incoming fire.

They were also given a redesigned zat'nik'tel. While the weapon itself was quite effective it's design left a lot to be desired. Once again the goa'ulds need too intimidate and spread fear shined though as instead of making a practical pistol designed they decided to make it in the shape of a serpent. Cadmus merely took the insides of a zat and placed them in a pistol design. He did make some modifications such as adding a select fire between stun and kill. As the knights were issued standard Legion armour there no upgrades there although there was a new prototype armour being designed that was showing promising results.

But one of the most prized possessions the knights had was there sword. Each one personally handed to them by Cadmus was in the shape of a Katana made out of refined trinium. Because trinium was so rare on the planet, only a small mine was in production extracting the material, it was considered a great honour to be gifted the sword.

What began as a dozen rebels 50 years ago had expanded to over 150 highly trained soldiers and assassins each and every one of them fanatically loyal to Cadmus and Cadmus alone.

As he entered the council chambers he saw a dozen men and women around a table stand to attention with there heads bowed in respect as he approached the head of the table. His body guards took positions at the door and behind Cadmus at the end of the chamber. The perfect body guard was neither seen nor heard. When he sat down he gave the order for them to do so as well. The council meeting began.

The council was created to run the day to day affairs of Thebes with Cadmus making the final decision on matters. They were selected from a group of people who showed the right attributes for there position and then they were voted in by the people. It was probably the first type of democracy ever seen on a goa'uld world.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, shall we begin?" Cadmus started.

"My lord, construction of new home's and roads are going as planned. The expansion for the science academy is also on plan and we expect completion by next year." One of the councillors reported.

Due to the population boom they had to build new homes every 5 years. The city was also expanding too accommodate the excess people, no matter what day there was always one part of the city under construction.

"Excellent, how about the upgrade to the city's wall's." Cadmus asked.

Although the wall Imhotep built was a symbol of oppression they were a good defence measure. So Cadmus ordered the wall to encompass the whole city, not just where the pyramid complex was. Unlike the old wall of cobblestone, the new wall made out of lime stone cinder blocks reinforced with a layer of refined naquadah gave the wall a silver grey like appearance making the wall incredibly resistant to attack. It was patrolled extensively by soldiers of the legion and the knights of Cadmus.

"We are near completion on the final stage. When the wall is finally completed it will stretch about around the entire city. The new sensors the science academy has created will be placed in strategic points on the wall to monitor the outside of the wall. With the roaming patrols and the numerous plasma cannon emplacements the wall will be all but impregnable from outside attack." The councillor finished proudly.

"Well done councillor. When the final stage is completed ensure the workers are justly rewarded for there work." Cadmus replied.

"Yes my lord." He responded.

"Anything else to report?" Cadmus asked the council.

"My lord, as you know we are currently meeting the demand for food with our farms, however with out population increasing as it is we may want to consider building a second aqueduct to supply enough water to the farms." Another councillor reported.

"Very well, begin drawing up plans for a second aqueduct, one large enough to supply both the farms and the population in the city." Cadmus ordered.

"What about our mining production?" Cadmus asked.

"We are currently meeting our production quota for naquadah and other materials and we currently have survey teams on the other two continents and the various islands for other mineral deposits." One of the councillors reported.

"Speaking of island's, what is the progress of the excavation of the ruins?" Cadmus asked.

A couple of months ago a survey team looking mineral deposits on an island found ruins half buried in the ground. Reporting the find back to Cadmus resulted in a 100 strong excavation team to be sent out to uncover it. They had spent months painstakingly excavating the earth around the ruins so as not to damage it. The ruins were far larger than anyone predicted, what was on the surface was only the tip of it.

"It's about 65% complete my lord. Resonance scans indicate' a large cavern beneath the ruins that appears to be made out of solid naquadah. We are attempting to completely excavate it within two months, my lord."

"Take your time. I don't want the ruins damaged simply because we rushed the excavation" Cadmus ordered. The councillor responded with a nod.

"What about what's been excavated so far? Have the archaeology teams been able to determine anything." He asked.

"The team reports that our initial assumptions were correct. The ruins definately predate Imhotep or the goa'uld by at least 1000 years. While they are unsure what civilisation they belong too, early indications seem to be pointing towards the ancients." The councillor reported.

The ancients were once the most powerful race in the known universe. There level of technology has remained unsurpassed since except perhaps by the Asgard. The original creators of the Chappa'ai or Astria Portal as it was known in Ancient. Although the Ancients have disappeared presumed dead, there technology still survives. It was this technology that set up the original goa'uld to take over the galaxy.

Cadmus signalled one his knights to his side and whispered in his ear.

"Prepare a detail. I want to visit the ruins as soon as I'm done here" Cadmus ordered.

"It will be done my lord." The knight replied with a bow and left the room to set it up.

"Is there any update on our search for an astria portal?" Cadmus asked.

After the revolution an extensive search was carried out on the pyramid complex, the city and surround areas. Cadmus had figured out one of the main reasons Imhotep never reached any prominence. He didn't have a Chappa'ai or Stargate. While a stargate wasn't absolutely necessary to travelling the galaxy, it did make things a hell of a lot more easier.

"Not yet my lord, we had probes sent out to the neighbouring planets but there was no indications of life let alone any technology. We are currently preparing an expedition to travel to different star systems in cloaked tel'tak's. Hopefully there is one there that we can take without arousing suspicion." A councillor reported.

"Very well keep me informed of that. How is the research into the goa'ulds technology progressing at the academy?." He asked.

"The last report indicated it was going well my lord, the student's have made several breakthroughs and have even come up with designs to improve upon them. For example some of the students have been studying the goa'uld long range communication device. We know it is able to send communications via subspace however what we haven't been able to work out is how the communication went to a specific person or device without being lost or intercepted. We have determined that each device is connected together on a specific frequency. The students our currently designing a device that scans for frequency's used by the communication device's. If successful we will be able to jam that frequency preventing communication or even listen in and gather intelligence." The councillor reported happily.

That certainly perked Cadmus's attention. If he could intercept communications used by the system lords it would give him a tremendous advantage.

"How long before the device is ready?" Cadmus asked eagerly.

"They told me they intend to have a prototype ready in a couple of months. However the scanner will have a limited range so the device will have to in close vicinity to a long range device while it's in use for it to work." The councillor replied.

"How close?"

"At least several hundred kilometres." The councillor answered.

'Damn' Cadmus thought. While that may seem like an incredible distance, it was actually pretty small when used in the context of space travel. Especially since ships could travel that distance in under a second.

'Maybe I can come up with a relay device of some sort.' Cadmus thought.

"Very well, let the team know of my appreciation of there breakthroughs. If that is all then this meeting is adjourned. Good afternoon." Cadmus finished the meeting. The councillors got too there feet and bowed in respect as he left the room.

As Cadmus left the room for the ring transporter he made several mental note's for the next meeting. As he approached the transporter four knights left first to secure the area for Cadmus just in case. Once receiving confirmation that the area was safe he left with his personal guard as well.

Appearing in a flash of light Cadmus and his guards stepped off the platform and gazed at the work site before them. Cadmus could see various workers on machinery excavating dirt while various archaeologists were on scaffolding that wrapped around what appeared to be a temple of some sort built out of white marble. The fact that it was still in the good condition it was, was tantamount to the ancients building capability.

As he approached the site workers and archaeologists bowed before getting back to work once he left. Cadmus walked over to the project leader in a tent. The leader was currently pouring over various pieces of paper on a table and didn't notice Cadmus entering.

"Cassius" Cadmus said instantly getting the leaders attention. Cassius's eye's widened upon seeing who had entered immediately got down on one knee with his head bowed.

"My lord a thousand apologies for ignoring you. I did not know you were coming If I did I would have certainly prepared for your arrival better than this" Cassius babbled out quickly.

Cadmus merely chuckled.

"Rise Cassius and no apologies needed, even I get caught up in my research and become blind to my surroundings and as for not telling you I was coming, this was a spur of the moment idea. In fact I should apologise to you for coming when you were so busy" Cadmus said.

Cadmus always treated his people fairly and equally and never spoke to them as if they were common slaves. He did this so as to garner loyalty and respect from the people he lead. Every little bit counted.

"Thank you my lord." Cassius said graciously as he stood up.

"So how goes the project, the report at the council said you are 65% complete." Cadmus asked.

"Yes my lord. As you can see from the outside the ruins were actually debris from another building. Searches led to this which appears to be some sort of temple. As you can tell we still haven't finished completely excavating it. But we have captured images of what appears to be text written in ancient." Cassius finished as he handed pictures of ancient text to Cadmus.

Looking over the pictures Cadmus could definitely tell the writing was ancient. Unfortunately he had could not translate it because this was the first time he had come across the ancient writing. While the majority of goa'uld technology was reversed from ancient technology however it was discovered thousands of years ago and was now lost. The only ancient technology that was prominent today was the stargate which he didn't have.

"How is the translation going?" Cadmus asked while looking over the documents.

"We have managed to translate a couple of words that was only because of the super computer at the academy, but without more references we can only translate so much." Cassius said morosely.

"I understand. Just tell me what you have translated so far?" Cadmus asked.

"From what we have translated so far, we think the writing on the temple is some kind of record log for an expedition. It says something about 'seeding the stars' and we have found the word 'destiny' is mentioned several times. So it could have been an exploration to other worlds. The writing on the temple could be the story of when the ancients first ventured to other worlds." Cassius said excitingly.

If that was true, then this could lead to planets that had been first colonised by the ancients. There could still be technology and information there. It was a long shot but Cadmus would take it.

"That sounds exciting. What about the cavern below the temple?" Cadmus asked.

"The cavern below the temple is actually several hundred metres below. Deep ground scanning have failed to penetrate the naquadah layer. We're going to have to excavate at an angle to the cavern so as not too damage them temple above. That will take time." Cassius said.

"That's okay. Do what you have too to ensure the temple isn't destroyed further. Good work so far Cassius. Keep this up and I may have work for you in the future." Cadmus said to the wide eyed leader.

"You are too kind my lord.. Thank you, I will not let you down." Cassius vowed.

After that Cadmus explored the site talking too the workers and looking at the temple up close. It truly was a masterpiece of architecture. After spending a couple of hours at the site he left back for the city.

Life carried on without major disruption. Some dysentery popped up in the city but that was quickly remedied with antibiotics and washing and cleaning tips being distributed. Cadmus carried on with his research into the goa'uld while also coming up with ideas for a relay system for the scanning device. In other words nothing major until the next council meeting.

"So as you can see the new aqueduct will be able to supply both the city and the farms while having the capacity for expansion." The councillor finished reporting.

"Thank you councillor, begin drawing up a plan for the resources and personnel needed for the project. If there's nothing else to report than this -" Cadmus said before being interrupted by a knight entering the room and whispering in Cadmus's ear. Whatever was said caused concern for the councillors due to Cadmus's face changing from slightly bored to deadly serious.

"Are you sure?" Cadmus asked the knight who was kneeling down to his ear.

"Yes my lord. We have triple checked, it's not an error in the system." The knight said.

"Very well" Cadmus said dismissing the knight.

Cadmus turned to the council with a heavy look on his face.

"Long range scanners have picked up a Ha'tak class vessel entering the system." Cadmus said while pointing to large screen that appeared out of the ground. On the screen showed the dozen planets in the system with a moving red dot entering the system.

"How long until it's gets here?" One of the councillors asked in a panicked voice. The other councillors while distressed were showing a resolute expression.

"Current estimates, a couple of hours." Cadmus replied.

While Cadmus had always known that Thebes would be discovered he had hoped to have more time to advance the planet and population. Thankfully he had contingencies in place in the even that Thebes was discovered before it was ready.

"What should we do my lord?" The council asked.

Cadmus knew that despite how advanced Thebes was they couldn't win a battle against a Ha'tak. No subtlety and cunning was what was needed. Thankfully the population also knew they could be discovered and had practised various scenarios and contingencies. The problem was deciding what was the right contingency.

"My lord, what are your orders?" One of the knights asked.

Taking a deep breath Cadmus thought through the various plans and back plans before deciding on one.

"Initiate Clean-sweep Contingency" Cadmus ordered in a firm voice. Everyone bowed there heads and went too prepare for the arrival.

Cadmus hoped it would be enough.

 **(A/N) How is the story so far. Good? Bad? So So? Keep those reviews coming in. Also if you any ideas you want see in the story send those in as well. I can't promise every single idea will make it, But I promise to read every one of them and if there good I will somehow write them in. Thanks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ha'tak Class mother ship,**

 **Thebes Star System, Space.**

 _Alexander, first prime of Pelops stood at the pel'tak of the vessel looking out the window as the ship entered the orbit of the planet below. Alexander and his men had spent the last two months scouting the planets of dozens of minor goa'uld lords to see if any were vulnerable to attack, most were. This planet was the last one they had to check before they could go home._

 _Alexander knew this planet was the rumoured home of Imhotep, the builder of the pyramids so he was expecting something a little bit more grander than what he was seeing._

 _"Master, our initial scans are showing no ships in orbit or on the ground." One of the Jaffa reported from his station._

 _"What about a pyramid?" He asked._

 _"I'm not picking up any structures resembling a pyramid. There is a large settlement and several smaller settlements scattered around the largest continent."_

 _'Perhaps they were at the wrong planet. The information they had about Imhotep was old and he could of moved to a different planet.' Alexander thought._

 _"How large is the main settlement?"_

 _"The size of a small city, judging by there population."_

 _"Can you ascertain there current technological development level?" He asked._

 _"Negative. We would have to land troops to get any information. But I haven't picked up any advanced technologies like the other minor lords planets."_

 _"Very Well"_

 _"Ready a detachment of Jaffa and prepare the al'kesh, I will investigate this planet immediately." Alexander ordered as he left the bridge._

* * *

 _The al'kesh broke into the atmosphere and did several flew over the city several times before landing in a clearing out of the city. Alexander approached the city with a dozen jaffa walking in two columns with him at the front as a way to impose fear in the population. As he entered the city he was surprised by how advanced the small city was when compared to other goa'uld worlds. There were roads, shops, and homes for the people. He couldn't see any signs of goa'uld technology so he concluded that this world must be evolving on it's own._

 _As he walked down the main street, he noticed how people weren't really paying him and his men attention, as if they see this sort of sight all the time. He and his men walked to the main square with the jaffa spreading out as people finally stopped and gathered around to watch._

 _"People of this world hear me. I am Alexander, the first prime of Pelops, your new god. Your lord Pelops has seen fit to save you from the tyranny of the weak god Imhotep. In exchange for this act of nobility Pelops demands obedience and loyalty from his subjects. You will carry out his orders or you will perish." Alexander declared in a loud and firm voice._

 _He could see some of the people look at him with scepticism, so he decided a display of power was in order._

 _"You doubt my words, maybe this will change your minds."_

 _Alexander aimed his staff weapon at a fountain and fired. The plasma blast burst out of the staff and rocketed towards the fountain before hitting it and blowing a large chunk of the fountain apart with explosion._

 _He turned back towards the crowd expecting to see fear and apprehension of there faces. Instead the crowd was looking at him with what looked to be faces of polite boredom or in some cases thinly veiled disdain._

 _'What is wrong with these people? They are acting like they see this every day. But our scans didn't pick any signs of advanced technology, so why are they like this?' Alexander thought._

 _"Perhaps a sacrifice is needed to elevate your thinking." Alexander said before signalling to one of his Jaffa to grab someone from the crowd._

 _"It wouldn't make any difference, they still wouldn't follow you." a voice from the crowd called out._

 _"Who said that?" Alexander yelled scanning the crowd looking for the person who dared to interrupt him._

 _The crowd parted allowing someone to walk through. Alexander noticed how the crowd bowed there heads to the figure._

 _'Must be the leader.' He thought._

 _The figure stopped stopped a couple of steps away from Alexander, both stared at each other for moment, sizing each other up._

 _While Alexander was dressed in his standard Jaffa armour for combat, the figure looked completely different._

 _Dressed in what looked to some type of black plastic armour that wrapped around the figures torso with a black cloak the flowed to the figures ankles._

 _"I must admit it has been some time since I have talked to a Jaffa. Judging by your symbol your not connected to one of the system lord's, so you must serve a minor lord." The figure stated._

 _Alexander's face showed a stony face betraying one of his thoughts 'This person know's much more than they should about the god's. But how? This culture by the looks of it have never met a Goa'uld or Jaffa before.' Alexander thought quickly._

 _"You seem to know a lot more about me that I know about you. Who are you? Are you the leader of these peasants?" He demanded._

 _The figure started to chuckle in response._

 _"Oh no I am not the leader, I am merely his servant. He sent me here to welcome you too his world." The figure replied._

 _"This world is no longer his. This world now belongs to the great god Pelops and if your so called 'leader' wants to survive he will bring himself here and kneel before me and swear fealty to his new god." Alexander declared._

 _The crowd gasped at the declaration and began to edge away from him._

 _The figure stood absolutely still and stared at Alexander._

 _"Or what?" the figure asked in a quiet voice which carried across the entire square._

 _"Or this world and everyone on it will be laid to waste"_

 _The square and everyone in it was silent as the moments passed before the silence was broken._

 _"JAFFA KREE" Alexander cried out._

 _The jaffa instantly raised there weapons at the crowd to fire, the crowd however stood defiant in the face of what could only be certain death…_

 _Except today was not there day to die._

 _Just before the Jaffa could fire, figures cloaked in complete black who were hidden on roofs surrounding the square jumped from there positions and landed on the various Jaffa's backs plunging there swords deep into there bodies killing them instantly._

 _Just over five seconds later the dozen Jaffa were dead bleeding out in the square. The crowd watched the entire ordeal passively although some were wearing smirks of triumph._

 _Alexander stood in a nearly catatonic state as watched his dozen of Jaffa completely annihilated by people he hadn't even seen coming until it was too late. That's when he realised that the figure he was talking to hadn't even moved and was still looking at him._

 _Alexander whipped up his staff weapon with a snarl, intending to at least kill one of these monsters. Unfortunately his weapon was ripped from his hands from behind._

 _He turned only to face to face with the barrel of a weapon. The last he thing he saw was a blue light before blackness._

* * *

Alexander woke up with a start and jumped out of the bed ready for a fight only to find himself in his own bedroom, back home. He looked around confusedly, he could have sworn he as in the middle of a fight with monsters.

'Monsters? Ridiculous… just a bad dream, that's all' Alexander thought to himself. He left his room and walked to the balcony of residence in the palace. The balcony had beautiful view of the entire city from here. Nothing less for the first prime of the great god Pelops.

As he leaned on the railings on the balcony, he couldn't help but go over the dream he had. It felt incredibly realistic and he could still feel the moment he was killed.

'Just a bad dream, that's all' He reassured to himself.

As he relaxed on the balcony, the dream continued to plague him for some reason. He just couldn't put it out of his mind. It was like he was missing something and it was just at the back of his mind or dream in this case and then he suddenly stood up with a start…

'Since when do Jaffa sleep let alone dream' Alexander thought. He continued to think about it. Jaffa don't sleep, they Kel'No'Reem so why did he wake up from a dream.

He was so deep in thought he didn't notice that he was no longer alone.

"Master Alexander." A voice breaking him out of his thought.

"Yes?" Alexander answered snappily as he turned around and looked at the servant.

"His highness demands your presence in the royal throne room." The servant said meekly and left with a bow.

Alexander quickly donned his ceremonial armour and left his residence for the imperial palace that housed his god, all thoughts of the supposed dream gone.

* * *

The majesty of the imperial palace was still awe inspiring to Alexander. A colossal pyramid set on a small mountain overlooking the city below. The walls were lined with gold hieroglyphs detailing the story of Pelops with pedestals of fire lighting the entire palace.

But the most striking feature of the pyramid was what was landing on top of it. A Ha'tak class mother ship was descending onto the pyramid creating a huge shadow enveloping the entire structure.

Alexander waited for his god on one knee in the throne room for Pelop's arrival. The ring transporter activated and Pelops arrived with his personal guard.

Pelops stood on a raised dais in a standard Greek ceremonial armour with a golden breast plate with his symbol clearly visible on it.

"Alexander rise" Pelops commanded in a deep voice.

Alexander did as he was told and stood before Pelops.

"How goes the scouting mission I assigned to you?" Pelops asked.

"It is as you thought my lord. While the minor goa'uld lords have sufficient Jaffa forces on the ground, they lack any extensive vessels in space and mainly rely on the Chappa'ai to transport resources and Jaffa. I believe a coordinated attack from both space and the Chappa'ai will overwhelm any resistance they could make." Alexander reported

"And you scouted every planet within there domain's?"

"Yes my lord. The majority of planet's with there domain's are nothing but small mining or agriculture worlds for the most part. Most of there forces are concentrated on the minor' lord's home worlds."

"Very well." Pelops responded.

"What of the defences here?"

"My lord?" Alexander asked in a confused tone.

"Do not presume the other system lords are also not planning my demise. When we initiate our attack on the planets you have scouted it will require a considerable amount of our forces therefore leaving my domain vulnerable to attack. So I ask you again what are our defences on the home world?" Pelops demanded impatiently.

Alexander hurried to explain the defensive arrangements set up on the home world in an attempt to appease the god. After Alexander had finished explaining too Pelops the guard schedules he fell silent.

"Your arrangements appear to be in order… for now" Pelops

"However I wish to inspect these defences myself, prepare a guard detail we leave at once." Pelops commanded.

Alexander bowed quickly and then left the throne room to make the preparations.

* * *

"As you can see my lord the city is completely protected from attack." The garrison commander said.

Around the main city were five barracks each holding one hundred Jaffa each, able to respond to any attack or disturbance in the capitol at a moments notice. Currently they were in the courtyard of the last of the five barracks they were visiting.

"And I trust you have adequate support in case of emergencies?" Pelops asked.

Alexander stood off to the side of the retinue observing everything around him. This day was becoming most odd. First he had a dream, which wasn't possible since Jaffa couldn't sleep, then he was questioned by his god about matters he already know's about, it was like Pelops forgot everything important to the offensive which had to be preposterous since he was a god… right?

Now he was on a tour inspecting the defences around the city and inquiring about the state of his Jaffa. Now that wouldn't be out of order since of course he would be concerned about security, he was after all the one the Jaffa was supposed to be protecting. Except for one small thing.

Pelops had never in the entirety of Alexander's life asked questions about the Jaffa. Actually this was the first time in his life he had seen his god go to a barracks, let alone ask questions about security and safety.

Something was wrong.

Pelops never acted like this before, he never acted… nice, for lack of a better word.

And that dream he had. Why did it seem so real? Why didn't Pelops ask about Imhotep? He did ask about the minor lords.

Something was wrong and it was just at the back of his mind. Every time he tried to remember it, it changed or disappeared. It was like trying to hold on to sand, the harder you hold on the more sand escapes. Every time he tried to think about that dream it escaped him.

"I think that's enough." A voice said in front of him. Startled he looked up and into the face of Pelops.

Alexander was looking around and noticed everything was frozen. Nothing was moving, the garrison commander seemed to be frozen mid talking, birds above were frozen in the air and everything was dead silent.

The only thing moving was Pelops.

"This isn't real, is it?" Alexander asked 'Pelops'

"Oh it's real, in the fact that everything you have seen and heard has been taken from your memories."

"But this never happened! I don't remember this!" Alexander insisted.

"No but everything you see around has happened. You remember the palace and where you live, you remember the throne room, you remember the Ha'tak descending onto the pyramid and you remember Pelops but most most importantly you remember the defences in place around the city." 'Pelops' Concluded with a smirk.

"You see I had questions and your sub conscience provided the answers. I just had to trigger the relevant memories to access the relevant information."

"But...But...I would have known if someone was accessing my memories!" Alexander cried out.

"You most certainly would have, if you were conscience." 'Pelops' replied amusedly.

"So where am I then?" He asked tiredly.

"Somewhere safe. Don't worry your still alive."

"So I guess this is the part where you kill me." Alexander stated.

"I must admit that was my first thought, but the more I accessed your memories the more I began to see within you great potential. So I' going to spare your life and maybe, just maybe you'll come to serve me."

"I'll never betray my god!" Alexander declared with strong conviction.

"You may not want to, but you will." Pelop's said confidently.

The confidence in 'Pelop's voice made Alexander even more uneasy.

"And why is that?" He asked.

"Let me tell you a few things about your so called god..."

* * *

"Well that was informative." Cadmus said as he exited Alexander's mind. He had spent several hours within Alexander's mind probing his inner thoughts and memories. He had gathered enough intelligence that he could launch an attack on Pelops. While there would is no doubt he would win, he would sustain moderate to heavy casualties.

But he wouldn't attack… not yet anyway.

"My lord are you okay?" One of the doctors asked as he removed the memory recall device. The device was the size of a small coin that was attached on the neck behind the ear. It worked by amplifying the neural activity of a host's brain. Now the device couldn't target a specific memory so the host would have to be induced to recall the memory which they would undoubtedly resist resulting in confused and scattered information.

But if the host was relaxed and placid or preferably unconsciousness then the host wouldn't be in a position to resist as forcefully as if they were awake. Too activate the relevant memories the host had to be asked questions that would trigger an emotional response allowing the recall device to work. But Cadmus had figured out a more efficient way for it.

If you could insert another conscience into the hosts mind, it could allow direct access to the host's memories from which you could gather information. Similar to when a symbiote take's over a body, just with technology and the best part was that unless the other presence chose otherwise, the host has no idea it's happening, the other presence would be just like a voice in the back mind whispering to you.

"I am fine, doctor." Cadmus replied.

"Did you see all that?" Cadmus asked looking at a viewing room above him. Right now he was in an underground bunker beneath the Knights of Cadmus barracks. In this bunker all manner of military affairs were carried out.

The viewing room held a holographic display showing everything that had happened in Alexander's mind. The generals of his legions and civilian leaders could then use the information for formulating strategies and tactics.

"The analysts are reviewing everything now my lord, but we got the basics." A voice over an intercom replied.

"What about the Ha'tak vessel in orbit?" Cadmus asked.

"The operation was a success. We now control it."

Cadmus smiled a smirk of superiority, he now had the first ship of many for his fleet…

* * *

Two Hours Ago

 _The Jaffa on the ha'tak were getting nervous. They lost contact with the first prime and his escort an hour ago and he was no longer responding to there transmissions. But one of the more pressing issues was who exactly was in charge now._

 _Because there was only two ranks within the Jaffa that of footsoldier or first prime, there was no clearly defined chain of command should anything happened to the first prime. So the Jaffa on the ship spent thirty minutes arguing whether to send a more ground forces to look for Alexander or just bombard the planet from orbit._

 _They were arguing so much with each other they nearly missed the al'kesh from the planet flying towards them._

 _"Master Alexander, are you alright? We lost communication with you some time ago." A jaffa said speaking over a transmitter._

 _"Master Alexander was injured on the planet and we had to evacuate him. He requires immediate medical attention, have the pel'tak crew wait for our arrival in the main hanger." A voice replied over the intercom._

 _"It will be done." The Jaffa replied._

 _As the crew marched down to the hanger, the al'kesh was just coming into the hanger. The al'kesh landed in the hangar and powered down, the crew from the pel'tak were ready at the exit hatch as it opened plasma blasts rocketed out of the hatch striking the pel'tak crew killing them instantly._

 _As the pel'tak crew laid dead on the floor with there plasma wounds still smouldering, a single knight of Cadmus stepped out of the al'kesh and inspected the bodies for any sign of life. After confirming no pulse on any of the bodies he put his hand to his throat where his communicator was located._

 _"Command, This is sphinx do you read, over?" The knight transmitted._

 _After a few moments of static a voice transmitted back._

 _"Command here. We read you, transmit update, over?" The voice ordered back._

 _"Encountered light resistance in the hangar. All enemy personnel eliminated. Proceeding to objective. Activating personnel locator now, over." The knight said as he pressed a button on his wrist._

 _Back in the command bunker on the planet, a blue dot appeared on a screen which had the layout of the ha'tak, showing the knight's position in the ship's hangar._

 _"Copy that sphinx. We're picking up your location now. All unit's check in, over" the voice ordered back._

 _"This is jackal, checking in, over"_

 _"This is asp, checking in, over"_

 _"This is falcon, checking in, over"_

 _The technician heard all the infiltration teams check in as the blue dots appeared on his screen one by one until 30 blue dots appeared on his screen._

 _"All units we read you. Operation Thatch is a go, I repeat Operation Thatch is a go. Over and out" The line replied._

 _With a nod all the infiltration teams split up and went in different directions in what was probably the first recorded hi-jacking of a space vessel in the known galaxy._

* * *

"Any casualties?" Cadmus asked.

"Only for the jaffa."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry for the huge delay in updates, I had a massive case of writers block. I basically have a beginning, a middle and an end but nothing in between. I haven't figured that part out much which brings me to my next point.**

 **I need a beta.**

 **Since this is pretty much my first story, i'm basically figuring things out as I go along. What I need is someone who presumably has an in depth knowledge of the stargate universe and has written stories before. I have ideas but I need to bounce them off someone to see what works and what doesn't. So if anyone's interested PM me.**

 **Also technology wise, until I get a beta to help me, your just gonna have to go with the technology I'm creating. I'm taking the CSI approach to things. If it sounds realistic, it's good enough.**

 **I don't know about this chapter but it's all I've got, so bare with me.**

 **Once again please review with your thoughts and any ideas,**

 **Thanks.**

 **P.S: I inserted a pirate reference in there somewhere, for any of you history buffs.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Nothing new just fixed some of the errors in spelling and grammar as best as I can. FYI the reason there were so many errors was when I finished this chapter I didn't have Microsoft word so I was using another program which had shitty spell check. If you still find some problems with the grammar, DEAL WITH IT!**

* * *

 **Thebes.**

Nestled within the mountain range of the second largest continent on Thebes, the Ha'tak was slowly making it's landing. It was decided too land it here away from the main city and general populace to keep things secret.

A temporary camp had been built for the various scientists and security personnel waiting to inspect the massive vessel. As the vessel finally touched the ground with a loud thud that echoed throughout the mountain range, transport rings descended and picked up the first contingent of scientists. The contingent appeared in a hallway where they were immediately met by the knights of Cadmus who had seized the vessel.

The hallway was typical goa'uld design. Dark and imposing with golden hieroglyphs on the wall and fire pedestals providing lighting every couple of metres. Doctor Emir Khan was perhaps the most knowledgeable on goa'uld technology, specifically their spacecraft. He studied the schematics of each ship that Thebes had and had even come up with ways to improve upon them.

But the vessel that had fascinated was the ha'tak vessel. Ever since he had heard about them from his lord, he was obsessed with seeing one at least once in his lifetime. He couldn't wait too inspect this vessel from top to bottom and his team was just as eager.

"Doctor Khan?" A knight asked snapping the awestruck doctor out of his musings.

"Yes, my apologies. We'll begin our inspection's immediately." Khan replied and began assigning his team areas to inspect.

"Doctor Emrata, take your team to the engine room and begin. Doctor Salim take your team to the computer core and connect your computers, hopefully they can integrate. The rest of you follow me too the pel'tak."

The teams left to their assignments under the escort of the knights. As Khan walked down the corridor too the pel'tak he observed his surroundings. He could see the signs of battle all on the walls and even some blood stains on the floor.

As they turned the corner they a saw a sight that left some regretting having breakfast that morning. Lined on the floor were black body bags filled with dead jaffa. A pair of knights were going from body to body and inserting their hands into the dead jaffa symbiote pouches and extracting the symbiote and placing them in containers.

"The previous owners of this vessel were unwilling to part with it, so a more forceful solution was required" The knight escorting Khan said to him.

Khan merely chuckled weakly and studiously kept his straight ahead as they passed the bodies. Before long they arrived at the pel'tak and Khan was having a hard time containing his joy.

The pel'tak was a large room with a throne in the middle of the room for whatever goa'uld or first prime who oversaw the vessel. There were two control stations that were used to pilot and control the vessel via a neural interface, meaning they controlled it with their thoughts. The best part for the doctor was that he got to study it all.

'Oh yes... this is going to be fun' Khan thought happily.

* * *

The chaos and panic of the goa'uld visit died down and life returned to normal. The ha'tak was being studied from top to bottom and the dead jaffa bodies were taken too be studied in the hope they could find a way to end the Jaffa's dependence on symbiote's too live. That was why Cadmus didn't have any in his service, when a symbiote matures it can their no longer stay in the jaffa and must be removed and if the jaffa carrying the symbiote didn't get a replacement one they would die. Since Cadmus didn't have access to a queen he couldn't replace the symbiote's in the jaffa, that and the fact that every jaffa that had come too Thebes were killed.

The symbiote's from the jaffa were taken to Cadmus's private laboratory's where he was currently working on something that could change the balance of goa'uld power forever.

He was going to access their genetic memories.

If he could access those memories, then he would know everything about that goa'uld and whoever spawned it. Everything from military secrets, scientific information to strategic locations and key goa'uld. That information alone could make his eventual rise to system lord all but inevitable.

However, it was not going to be easy, in fact hard would be understatement. Apart from him, he was pretty sure there had never been any extensive research on the symbiote's themselves so he was starting completely from scratch.

He couldn't even use his own genetic memories. His 'mother' had limited his memories strictly too technical knowledge to prevent the various downsides of the goa'uld species, so he couldn't call upon those memories to help.

Back when he mapped the symbiote's genome, he was doing it purely to replicate the benefits of the symbiote. Now he had to conduct an in-depth study on the symbiote's structure, particularly it's brain.

However, he was having trouble identifying which area was which in the brain since all his test samples were dead. If he couldn't figure how to retrieve that data, he was going to have to resort to studying a live symbiote...in a host.

The thought of doing that made him uncomfortable. Because it would likely involve a lot of trial and error and it would probably be very painful. Cadmus couldn't give two shits if it caused the goa'uld pain but the host would also feel it. That did give Cadmus pause. The compassion his 'mother' had installed making its presence known.

However, if Cadmus had to resort to using a live host for experimentation, he was determined to do it.

Realising he wouldn't make any more progress today he shut down his lab and ringed back to the surface. He was joined by his personal guard and several aides who brought him up to speed on his schedule.

Today he would be visiting a school in the city and talking with the students about recent events. This was to assure them that everything was alright and to answer any questions the students may have.

"My lord after the school visit we have the demonstration at the weapons range, after that we're done for the day." One of his aides reported to him.

"Very well." Cadmus replied.

* * *

Kray'ac could hardly believe what was happening today. She was going to host her lord and leader Cadmus in her own classroom. Already she was cleaning her classroom again and making sure everything was in place so that it would be ready for her lord.

When the revolution happened, she was no more than 5 years old. But she did have a few memories of life before it. She remembered being hungry and scared. She remembered being terrified of her god and the jaffa who served him but that all changed with the uprising.

She witnessed the previously thought invincible jaffa slaughtered and then saw her so called 'god' get set alive on fire. After that everything changed, while the next couple of months of transition were tough the following years after made up for it.

Under her new lord's rule, she could do things that were previously unthinkable under Imhotep. She could get an education which was possible since her lord had used Imhotep's computer systems to set up education lessons from which they learned from.

Through those lessons, she had discovered her passion for learning and for sharing that knowledge, so it was with that desire that she became a teacher to teach the next generation. As she finished the last of her cleaning the first students started to arrive.

The students were dressed in simple uniform consisting of a white dress shirt and black trousers. They entered silently and stood at their desks awaiting Kray'ac permission to let them sit.

"You may sit. Good Morning Class."

"Good morning Madam." The class responded as one.

"As you know today is a very important day. Our lord and leader is planning a visit to the school and he is going to be visit this classroom" Kray'ac said.

The students broke out into wide smiles at the thought.

"So, until he arrives we will be practising how to properly greet him."

They were just finishing the proper greeting when a Knight came into the room. The children looked at the knight in awe.

"Good morning Madame, I'm here to secure the room for our lord's arrival." The knight said to Kray'ac.

"Oh, that's not a problem. As you can see the children seem more interested in you than anything I'm doing right now, could you perhaps you can answer a few questions for the children?" She asked the knight.

"Of course, madam, it will be a pleasure." He answered.

H turned from the teacher to the waiting children and wasn't surprised to see all their hands up in excitement.

* * *

Cadmus was being led around the campus by the headmaster as inspected the students and the facilities. After Pelops was overthrown he suddenly realised he overlooked a part of his population when planning the rebellion, the children. He realised that these children would have to be educated if they were to be any use of him to the future.

To help the children learn he re-purposed the computer systems of Pelops into crude education terminals. The only displayed basic learning material but it was better than nothing. After two years of learning through this method those children became the first teachers.

When the population began to grow, a new permanent school was needed with the proper facilities to teach the new generation. The "Al-Mualim School of Education" was built in honour of village elder Cadmus had met all those years ago.

The school followed a policy that strongly encouraged unity. It had classes for science and languages and types of trades. Physical education was mandatory for everyone regardless of gender. Every student learnt the basics of Mastaba and trained in the use of a Mark. 1 plasma weapon. By the time, they left school they would be able to defend themselves and Thebes if the need ever arose.

As Cadmus entered a classroom all the students stood up and bowed at the waist to him.

Cadmus walked over to the teacher who was still bowing at him.

"This is Madame Kray'ac she teaches the students of this year." The headmaster informed Cadmus.

"Please rise." He said to her.

Kray'ac rose trembling a little. She couldn't believe she was meeting and talking to her lord in person.

"It is an honour to meet you, my lord." She said slightly proud she did it without stuttering.

"As it is to meet you." He replied.

"Good morning class." Cadmus said to the students.

"Good morning lord Cadmus." the students replied in perfect sync.

As Kray'ac began explaining what the students were learning Cadmus inspected the classroom and the students. All students wore a simple uniform consisting of a white dress shirt and black pants. The classroom itself was designed in a way so that even the perception of sides was minimised, as such all the student's desks were arranged in a semi-circle around the teacher.

Another aspect Cadmus noticed was the large portrait of himself on a wall in the front of the classroom. This was repeated in every classroom, the reason for this was more than just vanity but a way to ensure the people's loyalty to him.

Cadmus's way of gaining and ensuring peoples loyalty and admiration was vastly different and more effective than the goa'ulds. There way of gaining loyalty and worship was very basic and extremely ineffective. Pretty much throw around a few blast of a hand device or staff weapon, flash their eyes and demand that the populace worship them or die.

While that could work on backwater populations, there was always a chance that some people might not appreciate that. Cadmus's way was much more...refined.

It began at childhood. Nothing major just frequent reminders about how everything is better under his rule. Once they begin schooling they are taught how Cadmus had freed their families from the tyrannical goa'uld. They were then told about all the things that have changed since Cadmus had come and how everything is better with him in charge.

With that repeated over 10 years of schooling that type of indoctrination can turn even the most sceptical person devout.

As the tour went on he answered the student's questions, even signing some of their workbooks. With the tour coming to an end he shook hands with the teachers and students and left for the weapons inspection.

* * *

The weapons range was an isolated island 30 minutes away from the continent by a tel'tak. The island had multiple firing ranges and observation bunkers throughout. Every prototype military technology was tested here from the mark 1 plasma weapon to new types of explosives.

Cadmus was led to an open field where a group of scientists and military officials had congregated.

"My lord we are honoured you are here." The lead scientist said to him.

"I'm honoured to be here. You said that you a new weapon for my legions. Show me." Cadmus replied.

The scientist ushered forward an aide who handed Cadmus the weapon. The weapon was a larger metal tube about a meter long with an optical sight on it.

The weapon was onyx black and weighed about 10 kilos, though with Cadmus's enhanced strength it was practically weightless. There was also a trigger system underneath it with a fore grip at the front.

"We're calling it the HW-1 or heavy weapon 1. It was designed to be a battle field plasma cannon however we decided to make it portable so that it would be easier for our soldiers to carry. As you know my lord the system lords Jaffa armies use a much larger version of this that requires five jaffa to transport it and set it up because of its size and weight. It would take ten of our legionnaires to do the same so we tried to come up with a weapon that could inflict the same amount of damage only at half the size and weight, this is it.

"Unlike the plasma cannon this only requires a two-man team to carry, one to the weapon itself and another to carry its ammunition. As you know the larger plasma cannon must be connected to an external power source for it to generate its powerful plasma blasts. The HW-1 however uses charged plasma rounds to generate the same effect, just like the example here." The scientist gestured to the table that held the plasma rounds.

The plasma rounds were about 30 cm long in the shape of large bullet. Inside contained liquid naquadah giving off a faint yellow glow.

"The rounds are inserted into the device itself via an opening on the top, like show." the scientist said as two legionnaires came forward and demonstrated. One held the weapon over his shoulder while the other opened the back end and inserted the round then closed it.

"Once the round is inserted into the tube it is then activated or charged meaning it's ready to fire." the scientist said.

The legionnaires the took a few steps away from the group and aimed the weapon at a boulder the size of a house and just as thick.

The legionnaire carrying the device got down on one knee and prepared to fire.

"Clear back!" The legionnaire shouted.

"Clear!" The second one replied.

"FIRING!"

There was a loud crack that echoed around the range as dust and dirt was kicked up by the back blast of the weapon despite it all Cadmus could clearly see the yellow plasma blast exploding out the tube and towards the boulder before impacting it in shower of stone and dust.

As the dust cleared the assembled group could not contain their surprise as the boulder which was before strong and undamaged now had a hole the size of a fully-grown man and a crack that seem to be on the verge of splitting the entire boulder in two.

"Amazing." Cadmus whispered in awe.

"Yes, we think so as well my lord. Another round would destroy it outright." the scientist replied.

"As amazing as this weapon is there has to be a downside to it." Cadmus asked after he got over his shock.

"The only downside we have encountered is that each round is only about 90% as effective compared to a plasma blast from a cannon, however we believe that it's light weight and easy portability more than make up for it. So far, the only major limitation is how many rounds each legionnaire can carry. A two-man team can carry up to ten rounds including the weapon and any other supplies required. Put this weapon in the hands of an effective team and it can wipe out an entire squad of enemy jaffa." The scientist finished proudly.

"How long before you can put it into mass production?" Cadmus asked eagerly.

"We are setting up facilities to manufacture the weapon and the plasma rounds to go with it, that should take about six months. Each potential legionnaire who are selected to use this weapon must undergo about four weeks of training to know how to use and assemble this weapon properly before deployment. All in all, this weapon should be hands of your legions ready to use within twelve months."

Cadmus signalled one of his generals to him.

"Confer with the scientists and set up a training schedule for the recruits, I want this weapon on the field ASAP." He ordered.

"Yes, my lord." the general replied.

With this weapon, Cadmus knew he had taken a major step forward to his inevitable rise to system lord.

It won't be long until he is ready to reveal himself now...

* * *

 **10 Years Later.**

He was ready.

He was finally ready.

For ten long years, he had been planning and preparing for this day. Today he would initiate the final step that will secure his rise to system lord. All the secrecy and deception will end and he will finally be ready to announce himself to the galaxy.

He made his to the balcony of his palace. As soon as he stepped out into the open and thunderous cheer rose to his ears. Thousands below had turned out to listen to his speech. They chanted his name repeatedly as he basked in their adulation.

He raised his hand regally and the crowed instantly quieted.

"Yesterday... Yesterday we were a kingdom without an empire. Tomorrow we will decide which empire… WE WANT TOO DIE!" The crowed once again cheered so loud that ships in orbit could probably hear them.

"And from the ashes of the old, a new empire will arise, one that will be stronger and more powerful than you can imagine. I will lead our armies across the galaxy and spread our reach too every star and planet until the only life in the galaxy who haven't heard of us are either dead or imprisoned."

The crowd once again cheered and cried out their approval at those words.

"And when our enemies beg and cry for our mercy, WHAT WILL YOU TELL THEM?"

"NO!" The crowd responded.

"And when all our enemies are nothing but ashes underneath our feet, then they will know our mercy" He spoke.

The crowd at this point were screaming themselves hoarse.

"Today is their past, tomorrow is our future. IT'S YOURS TAKE IT!"

Even though their throats were hurting from the cheering they still managed to take it too a whole new level as they repeatedly chanted his name repeatedly as he walked back into his palace.

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

"PELOPS!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sorry for the long wait, I've been at college and there was mad dash to finish everything. Now i'm on break so I should be able to write more frequently. Anyway this is just a filler chapter just setting things up and tying things off. Anyway a few things I should clarify in case people ask.**

 **1\. People might notice a lot of Arabic names. I'm trying to keep this as authentic as possible. Before Cadmus took over Imhotep was in charge as as such took the persona as an Egyptian god so it would make sense if a lot of the people had Arabic names. As the story goes I plan to replace the Arabic with Greek names so as to suit Cadmus.**

 **2\. Your going to have to imagine that everyone is speak Goa'uld. Stargate never did explained (At least no explanation I could find) how every one in the galaxy happened to speak English even though that Ancient Greek and Egyptian existed long before English. Even the aliens somehow speak English, So make what you will of that.**

 **As always I hope you enjoy the story and please leave reviews.**

 **Thanks.**

 **P.S Does anyone know where I can get a copy of that system lord book. It's called something 'Living gods'. It had in depth information on ever major and minor goa'uld. I found it online but I stupidly forgot to save it and now I can't find it anywhere. If anyone knows where I can find it send me a P.M**

 **Thanks again.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N If you haven't read this story in a while you should read the end of the previous chapter to catch up. Thanks.**

* * *

 **Pelops Home World**

As Pelops revelled in the crowd's adulation and thunderous applause he failed to notice how some of them weren't cheering in support or even clapping. Nor did he or any of his Jaffa notice when they all left the cheering crowd and walked off in the same direction.

The small group walked in silence as they left the main square of the palace and headed into the city centre. The city was of typical Greek architecture lots of lime stonework with the coliseum and Parthenon the largest structures in the city after the palace.

Most of the city's streets were practically deserted except for the odd person or two walking to the main event.

The group continued to walk in silence until they reached a house just on the outskirts of the city. They were greeted at the door by a diminutive elderly woman who just nodded at the group and let them in. The residence was a typical two-story house built out of stone and wood, the kind of house you would see on many goa'uld worlds. The group went to the staircase that led up to the second level.

However instead of going up the stairs they went to the side of it where the storage compartment would be, instead it was just a solid wood panelling with a few coat hooks on it. One of the group stepped forward and pulled down on the coat hooks in a random fashion, as soon as he finished there was crack in the panelling as a previously hidden door was revealed.

As the group entered the hidden passage they descended 'down' stairs to a hidden basement. Inside the basement was what could be politely described as a full-on armoury. Plasma staffs, zat guns, explosives, and various other devices, everything you would need to fight a small war. The group converged around a large square crate that was in the middle of the room, one of the group pressed down on the top of the crate then stepped back and waited.

The crate opened and a goa'uld communication device emerged from it floating in the air. The device activated, however instead of a clear picture being transmitted all the group could see was a swirling black mist before a voice spoke.

 _"Authenticate."_ The voice commanded in hard tone.

One of the group stepped forward.

 _"Let all true servants kneel before the glory that is Cadmus."_ He said.

The leader of the group began to speak.

 _"Send Report"_

"Pelops has just made a speech to this people announcing his intentions. Estimated time of offensive within the next two rotations." The leader said in a serious tone.

 _"Acknowledged. Return to your assignments and gather any further information the offensive. Next date of report within one rotation. Arche out._ " The voice replied before the communication device cut off.

Without a word the group left the basement and exited the house going their separate ways and back into the city that held the main population that hid them without their knowledge. When this was all over Pelops would never know, what hit him.

* * *

 **Thebes, Knights of Cadmus Base**

In one of the training areas of the base, Cadmus was being circled by one of his knights. He was currently going through his weekly exercise. While most goa'uld preferred to leave the fighting up to there under lords and Jaffa, Cadmus knew that no matter how powerful your forces may be or what technology you may possess, fate had a way of changing the tables on you at the most inconvenient times and usually in a way you didn't even consider. Imhotep was a prime example of that.

To that end, Cadmus always stayed in top condition in hand to hand combat and made time to visit the weapons range to practice whenever he had the time.

The two circled each other before the knight suddenly attacked, Cadmus instinctively brought his arms up and blocked the incoming kick from the knight and responded with a kick of his own to the back of the knight's thigh forcing him to his knee before he rolled out of the way.

The two continued to trade punches and blows against each other with neither gaining the upper hand. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a legionnaire running up to his aides and whispering in their ears. One of the aides made a slight nod in his direction alerting Cadmus that he was needed.

'Okay, time to wrap this up.' Cadmus thought.

He then lunged at the knight with lightning speed punches, some were being blocked but most weren't. Cadmus eventually broke the knight's defence and flipped him onto the ground. The knight sensing defeat was imminent tried one last offence and tried to wrap his legs around Cadmus's neck in a sleeper hold.

Unfortunately, he simply didn't have the strength left to hold him and Cadmus was able to slip from it. Cadmus thought the knight was valiant to keep fighting even when he knew he was going to lose. The knight finally yielded and was helped up from the ground by Cadmus.

"You fought well and you even managed to land a few hits on me. You should be proud." Cadmus complimented the knight.

Even though the knight was beaten badly, the thought that his lord was proud of him made all the injuries worth it.

Cadmus walked back to his personal guard and aides as they handed him his regular attire.

"I saw the legionnaire earlier, What's wrong?" Cadmus asked as he got dressed.

"We've received intelligence from the _analegein_. Pelops has completed the final stages of his preparation." The aide reported.

Cadmus was quiet and had a contemplative look on his face as processed what he had been told.

"Very well. Assemble the cabinet and wait for me in the war room." Cadmus ordered.

"It will be done my lord." The aide responded.

* * *

The war room was an underground bunker beneath the Knights of Cadmus barracks. It was here that all the major officials of Cadmus's empire met to discuss strategy's. In a conference room Cadmus, his cabinet and various generals were discussing the intelligence received from the _analegein_.

The _analegein_ was Cadmus's intelligence organisation. Formed fifteen years ago in secret, to provide in depth intelligence on the various goa'uld and any other potential threat to the empire. Their name meant 'to gather' in ancient Greek, and in this case to gather information. To ensure its success, Cadmus had sent out sleeper operatives to various goa'uld worlds. They were selected from all walks of Theban society, selected for their intelligence, lateral thinking, ability to adapt and overcome along with other aspects.

Once selected for recruitment they were then sent through the legionnaire basic course to learn valuable skills such as hand to hand combat, edged weapons and how to use various goa'uld weapons and technology. Those that had passed were then formed into individual cells with no more than three members and sent to a goa'ulds planet in a cloaked scout ship with orders to slowly infiltrate that goa'ulds society and to cultivate sources of information. They would work in semi-autonomous cells, meaning each cell would have no information on other cells therefore keeping the overall organisation and everything else safe and secure.

"Be seated." Cadmus said as he entered the room.

Once everyone sat down, the meeting began.

"Right then what do we know?" Cadmus asked the cabinet.

"My lord, 30 minutes ago, the cell operating on Pelops home world transmitted a report about a speech Pelops had made to his people. The outline of the speech indicated he was in the final stages of preparation for his offensive. We have a recording of the speech here." The leader of the analegein reported.

The speech was played for Cadmus via speakers in the wall as his cabinet sat in silence, contemplating what was being said.

"Well, that clear's things up." One of the members said grimly after the speech finished.

"This speech also coincides with Jaffa infantry movements reported within Pelops domain. As far as we can tell Pelops has mobilised nearly 4000 Jaffa to his home world in preparation for the offensive. The cell operating within his domain managed to capture several images that should prove illuminating." The leader responded as images appeared on the screen at the front of the conference table.

The images showed numerous Jaffa marching in formation into a what appeared to be a temporary camp set up. Other images showed Jaffa training in hand to hand and or practising with their staff weapons on makeshift weapons range. The most eye-catching aspect of the images was that there were two Ha'taks on landing platforms in the middle of the temporary camp with a pair of death gliders patrolling the skies around it.

"We also have reports of large amounts of food and supplies being loaded onto the vessels. These reports along with the speech Pelops has made indicates that he intends to attack within the next 24 to 72 hours." The leader finished as he sat down.

The room was silent as the cabinet digested what had just been reported.

"Alright then. We've been preparing for this day and all possible scenarios related to it. With the information, we sent him all those years ago, we know what his most probable targets are, therefore we can initiate our plans"

Ten years ago, when the ha'tak that came to Thebes was captured, strategic information was found on the vessel's databanks. The intelligence that was contained on the data banks was information on multiple minor goa'uld under lords and their domains such as planetary scans, disposition of Jaffa forces, major population centre information and everything else necessary to plan a pre-emptive attack. This information was copied and then sent to Pelops via subspace along with the message that the ha'tak had come under attack by a rival system lord and was heavily damaged, and was preparing to self-destruct to prevent capture by rival forces. The message was also embellished with statements like 'it was an honour to die for their god' or 'they died knowing their god was sending them to heaven' etc., etc. Everything necessary to make the message more believable and considering they never saw or heard from Pelops since, it seemed like he had bought it.

The information was sent in the hope it would keep Pelops from investigating to deeply into the 'destruction' of his ha'tak and as it contained no information on Thebes or anything else related to Cadmus, so it was a win – win. Cadmus got valuable information on his future targets along with a mothership without placing himself in danger.

"Alert the cells on the targeted planets to prepare themselves for imminent attack. Also order them to begin assembling their uplinks, I want real time intelligence coming in." Cadmus ordered.

"Yes, my Lord." The cabinet responded.

* * *

 **Pelops Home world.**

Pelops was sitting in his throne room listening to his first prime who was reporting to him about the preparations about the attack. For over 100 years Pelops had been planning this, increasing his Jaffa forces, constructing new Ha'taks and observing his rivals looking for potential targets. Ten years ago, he been dealt a potentially crippling blow to his plans. One of his Ha'taks had been destroyed after being discovered by a rival system lord.

Thankfully his first prime had thought to sacrifice himself to prevent his rivals from finding out his plans, he even had the good sense to send through what information he had gathered before self-destructing.

'Ah Jaffa, such loyal servants.'

It had been hard for Pelops to find a suitable replacement for Alexander. He had gone through several candidates before finally settling on Agathon.

He was the best candidate chosen from several other candidates having survived a brutal culling ceremony for the position, the other candidates had not survived.

"So, in summation I believe we should be able to attack within the next 48 hours." Agathon finished reporting.

"Well done Agathon. Have the Jaffa ready on standby for when I give the order." Pelops ordered.

"It shall be done my lord." Agathon said with a bow and left the throne room.

Agathon left the throne room with his mind buzzing with all the tasks that needed to be completed before the invasion. He had to make sure that the invasion force was properly armed and supplied with enough rations to last several days. Even though current projections put the invasion done and dusted at 24 to 48 hours, you could never know for complete certainty what might happen so it was best to prepare for anything and everything.

Agathon had coveted the position for first prime ever since he had entered his gods service. He naively thought that being the first prime of his god would entitle him to riches and fame throughout the galaxy.

'One day everyone will know my name. Agathon first prime of the great god Pelops.' Agathon had told himself when he was younger. It was this thought along with his determination and fortitude that eventually allowed him to rise to the position of first prime.

He imagined he would be vanquishing his god's enemies and putting the fear of death into the hearts of his opponents, and while he had accomplished some of that, he never for one second considered how much administration work that went with it.

"I need a drink." Agathon muttered to himself tiredly.

With that decision, he made his way into the city. As he walked by, the people would either bow slightly in respect or averted their gaze in fear, either way he liked it.

He finally arrived at his destination with a smile.

The building was about the size of a large house and had a sign in Greek hanging off the roof saying tavern.

He entered the building and noticed that it was rather empty except for a few early patrons. The tavern had chairs and tables scattered around the area with the main bar on one side of the room. It also had a large stone fire pit in the middle of the room to heat the place during winter but to also cook various types of meat over.

The business was started over five years ago, by an enterprising human who saw the need for a communal drinking establishment. In exchange for setting up the business, Alexandros the owner, had to pay a large tribute to Pelops. Alexandros was happy paying it, saying that the privilege of serving his god was more than worth it.

Alexandros was behind the bar washing a Kylix when he looked up at who walked in.

"Master Agathon, what an honour it is to have you here. Would you like your usual?" Alexandros asked in a welcoming voice.

"Please." Agathon responded dully.

Alexandros brought over a wooden mug and placed it on front of the bar in front of him.

"There you go, a mug of my finest mead. If it's not to forward of me master, you look a tad exhausted." Alexandros commented.

Agathon sighed in pleasure as he took a large and eager gulp of mead before replying.

"I did not think it was possible for a Jaffa to feel exhaustion but it does seem to be true that we can feel exhaustion. I did not understand all the duties associated with being the first prime of our god." Agathon said tiredly taking another gulp of mead.

"How so?" Alexandros asked curiously.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to mobilise 4000 Jaffa?" Agathon asked wearily while finishing his mead.

"I can't say I do. Then again, I don't have the honour of being first prime to our god. What is it about this task that you are finding difficult?" Alexandros asked while refilling Agathon's mug.

"Just getting everyone in one position is hard enough, let alone making sure there all supplied properly. I'll probably have to Kel'No'Reem for several days after this. It's a good thing we're taking that Ha'taks with us, I can at least get some down time before the invasion." Agathon replied taking another grateful sip.

"Ha'taks? I would have thought you would attack through the chappa'ai?" Alexandros asked curiously.

"That was the plan but our god wanted us to send a message to all who defy him, that he can attack anytime, anyplace. So, we're loading the forces onto the two ha'tak and attacking their planets directly." Alexandros replied nonchalantly.

"Are you not worried that the false gods might try to escape through there chappa'ai?"

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about that, we've taken two chappa'ai from our resource worlds for the time being. When we enter, the false gods orbit we'll dial the chappa'ai on the surface and prevent their escape."

"A genius plan my lord, those false gods won't see it coming."

"Yes, well that will only happen if I can somehow manage to bring all aspects of the operation together."

Taking another swig of the mug of mead, grateful for the distraction from all the preparations that were required but even though he was relaxing for the moment he couldn't help but run through his head everything that needed to be done, then checked and then re-checked.

Seeing the consternation on his customers face, Alexandros refilled his mug and decided to impart a few encouraging words.

"Master Agathon, if you've done everything that can be done, then everything will be okay. However, if you feel this weary then relax. Stay here and rest for a couple of hours, I think Catia will be dropping by tonight then maybe she can cheer you up but until she arrives, have another drink." Agathon chuckled as his mug was refilled again.

"You know for a human, your pretty easy to talk to." Alexandros commented.

"Talking is not that hard. Listening is, but in this profession, all some people want is nice drink and someone who lends an ear. You'd be surprised how many people come in looking for someone just to talk to, even Jaffa sometimes need to let it out."

"Uh huh, and does it work?" Agathon asked sceptically.

"I don't know but they do seem to leave a little happier and more relaxed after talking about it, either way you'll never know if you don't try"

"Fine, I'll humour you for the moment. What should we talk about?" Agathon asked.

"I don't know we've already talked about important issues. What else have you done today?"

Agathon than went on to tell Alexandros everything about his day that had happened up to that point without a second thought. If he did have second thoughts he would have wondered why he was so open with a human, but he didn't. What a mistake it would turn out to be.

* * *

 **Thebes, Underground Command Bunker**

Cadmus was sitting at the head of conference table discussing the events concerning Pelops with his various military advisors as people bustled about the room carrying out their tasks.

"As I was saying before my lord, If Pelops follows standard goa'uld tactics than the invasion of Ramius's and Tilgath's domains should be over rather quickly with the amount of forces Pelops is bringing to bare. However, if Tilgath and Ramius also follow standard goa'uld tactics and command their people to resist to the last man, then it will expectedly become a very bloody and destructive battle." One of the advisors reported.

That was concerning to say the least. Cadmus fully intended to take those planets once he defeated Pelops, then use those resources for himself but if Ramius and Tilgath decided to fight to the last person than chances are everything and everyone would be irreparably damaged. There was a reason most battles between rival goa'ulds were conducted in space.

The basic reason was that whenever a goa'uld went on the offensive it was in most cases to capture another goa'ulds resources, sure there may also be a personal aspect as some goa'uld might hate another goa'uld more than others but for the most part it was always about resources. Naquadah, slaves, precious metals, scientific information, and various other potential resources were up for grabs and the last thing the attacking goa'uld wants is for any of those potential gains to be destroyed in a crossfire during a ground battle.

"Then we must hope that Pelops is the military strategist he _thinks_ he is and that he will try and limit the collateral damage he may cause." Cadmus commented as tried to think of the potential consequences if both planets were damaged beyond repair.

'Hopefully Pelops will try and repair any damages he may cause.' Cadmus thought.

Cadmus was broken out of his thinking when he saw an aide enter the room and pass the leader of the analegein a message.

"My lord we've had report come in from one of our operatives on Pelops home world, he reports that Pelops intends to load his Jaffa onto his ha'tak's and transport them to Ramius's and Tilgath's territory while using the two stargate's from his own domain to prevent escape on the ground." The leader reported.

"How accurate is the intelligence?" Cadmus asked.

"Every report we've received from him so far has been accurate. The operative in question is placed in a highly advantageous position allowing him to gather sensitive intelligence."

'So much for limiting collateral damage.'

"Very well then. This report confirms that Pelops intends to launch a ground invasion regardless of the potential damage he may sustain."

"But why my lord? If what we've learned about goa'uld combat tactics is true, why is Pelops so intent on launching an invasion? Surely he knows he may lose a great amount of resources." One of the officials asked.

"Resources play only a small role in this, For Pelops this is personal. If my memories are correct Pelops was the one who created the first Jaffa. At the time the goa'uld primarily used the Unas as it's frontline soldiers, but for all their strengths and durability the Unas were too brutish and animalistic to ever be controlled properly without a symbiote possessing them. Pelops was and potentially still is, a gifted geneticist. It was him who experimented on the first human slaves altering their DNA to carry the symbiote goa'uld while at the same time increasing their strength and extending their life. He planned to use these new 'Jaffa' as he called them to secure his position as a system lord and expand his domain. However, before he could strike, his new soldiers were discovered and reported to Ra who was understandably upset. In exchange for keeping his life and a mere sliver of his domain, Pelops had to release the secret to the creation of the Jaffa to the other system lords ruining him and any potential rise to power." Cadmus finished concluding another sordid tale of the goa'uld.

The conference room was silent as the cabinet digested the story. Just when they thought they got used to the goa'uld and their abominable actions, another piece of information would come up making them revise their previous opinions. They were glad that their lord was much different to the goa'uld and that when he ascended to system lord status they could finally start to change the galaxy.

"My lord, if it was Ra who originally stripped Pelops of his power than, why is he going after Ramius and Tilgath?" A member asked.

"Well this is the part of the story where no one except the one's involved know exactly what happened. There's a version of the story where Ramius, Tilgath and Pelops were working together and at the last moment betrayed Pelops to Ra. There's also another where Ramius or Tilgath, one or the other discovered what Pelops was up to and told Ra hoping to curry favour with him. Either way Pelops lost most his domain and Ramius and Tilgath gained it which was then split between them. I guess Pelops is still upset about it." Cadmus answered.

"So, for the past several centuries he has been this invasion all for simple revenge?" One of the advisors asked in disbelief.

All those lives and resources that Pelops had sunk into the venture and it was all over an incident that happen centuries ago.

"Yes. Never underestimate the pettiness of the goa'uld. If there is one enduring aspect of their personality that will never change no matter their age, it's their ability to hold a grudge, and Pelops has been holding onto one for very long time." Cadmus replied.

* * *

 **Orbit Above Ramius Home World**

Pelops watched the view screen as his ha'tak emerged from hyperspace over a very familiar planet. This planet had once been a part of his domain hundreds of years ago before it was stripped away leaving him humiliated and vengeful.

Now however he was ready to take everything he lost back and then some. All those years of living in virtual exile, slowly building up his forces, observing his enemies, waiting for that perfect moment to strike.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. This ha'tak he was travelling in was brand new. After losing a previous ha'tak to a rival he had to rush this one into production and then service. Hundreds of slaves died constructing it day and night just to finish it in time for the invasion, but the sacrifices were worth it.

"My lord scans have only detected two Al'kesh in the orbit of the planet." One of the Jaffa standing at a console reported.

Sitting upon a throne in the bridge, Pelops looked at the scans and confirmed that there were only two Al'kesh in orbit. Reports said that Ramius had three.

"Scan the surface perhaps the third Al'kesh is on the ground." Pelops ordered.

The Jaffa at the console moved his hands along the console as HUD provided him with the results.

"My lord I've scanned the surface and the third Al'kesh is not there however I have detected a squadron of death gliders."

"Ramius's death gliders are inconsequential as is the third Al'kesh. Prepare our ground forces for invasion." Pelops ordered.

"My lord we're receiving communication from master Agathon." The other Jaffa reported.

Agathon was leading the invasion on Tilgath's world and frequently sent updates on his progress. The view screen changed from the planet to an image of Agathon in his armour.

" _My lord, I have arrived at Tilgath's planet and engaged his force's in space, I will be leading the ground invasion once I'm done here." Agathon reported._

"Keep me updated." Pelops replied.

" _Yes, my lord." Agathon replied before the transmission ended._

"My lord the Al'kesh are powering their engines and moving into attack positions."

"Send out our gliders to intercept, then raise shields and charge weapons."

On the view screen, he could see the two Al'kesh off at the distance but slowly and surely getting closer.

"My lord we're receiving a communication from the surface."

"Put it through" Pelops ordered quietly.

The screen changed to one of his most hated enemies. Ramius the man who betrayed him and cost him everything. It looked like he changed hosts since he last saw him. When Pelops had last saw, him he had the appearance of older man with a greying beard and hair, now however he was in a much younger host. This one had short cropped black hair and a clean-shaven face with beady black eyes that were currently narrowed at him in anger.

"Ahh Ramius, how nice it is to see you again _old friend_. You've changed host's I see, I heard you had to after a particularly nasty battle with another system lord. I do hope it wasn't too _painful_." Pelops said pleasantly as if they were discussing the weather, although he said the last word with sarcastic sneer.

" _Pelops?"_ Ramius asked disbelievingly, eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, my _old friend_ , I've come to reclaim what was mine." Pelops said menacingly as leaned forward in his throne.

" _Really? I should warn you that I now serve Cronus. Attacking me is just as surely as attacking him personally. You may have the forces to defeat me but do you truly have the strength to go up against Cronus? I think not. Leave now and I won't inform him of what has happened today"_ Ramius replied.

If Ramius was expecting Pelops to fear the power of Cronus than he was going to be disappointed. Instead of fleeing like he wanted Pelops merely laughed loudly at him in a contemptuous manner.

"Thank you Ramius it has been some time since I have laughed like that. Do you really think I would attack you without knowing every single detail about you? I know you serve Cronus, more importantly I know just how little you matter to him. Your tribute to him is completely inconsequential to him when compared to his other vassals. I have no doubt that if you were to stop paying tribute, he wouldn't even notice. But on the off chance he would notice your disappearance and send his forces here, he would find a much more efficient under-lord in charge. You see Ramius, I intend repay what you did to me a thousand-fold and when I'm finished, all that will remain of you will be nothing more than a distant memory. But enough talking, I have planets to conquer, enemies to defeat and you have a date with death. I'm afraid my _old friend_ that this will be the last time we shall speak. I would wish you well with your future endeavours but we both know that you won't be around to see them" Pelops finished calmly.

" _We shall see."_ Ramius replied curtly before he cut the transmission.

"My lord, the enemy Al'kesh are closing in." the Jaffa reported.

As the enemy Al'kesh approached his ship, Pelops ran through all his plans and contingencies he had come up with for this very moment. He took a deep breath and stood up and gave his orders to his Jaffa to commence the attack. Once that was done he sat back down on his throne and steepled his fingers underneath his chin and observed the view screen as his death gliders went to intercept the Al'kesh.

"So, it begins." He whispered to himself.

* * *

 **Ramius Home World**

The people of Ramius's home world or slaves depending on who you ask, had no idea what was happening in space. As far as they were concerned the sky and everything above was the domain of the gods and those who were granted the honour to spend eternity in the heavens with them.

The first inkling they had that something might be wrong was when Jaffa started streaming out of the barracks and pyramid complex and into the city. About one hundred Jaffa took up firing positions around the chappa'ai and the surrounding area, while the rest of the Jaffa broke off and took up positions throughout the city.

Then a sound that echoed throughout the entire city sent fear down the backs of all who heard it, the 'Horn of Ramius'. At the top of a five-story tower a Jaffa was blowing into a horn the size of a person with all his might. The deep baritone sound was heard throughout the city and the surrounding area warning all those who heard it that the planet was under attack.

As the civilians of the city ran to their homes screaming in panic, squadrons of death gliders soared above the city, their engines drowning out the screams of the people before flying upwards into space to battle Pelops's forces.

While that was happening, Ramius was inside his pyramid hastily coming up a battle plan with his first prime to combat Pelops or at the very least buy more time.

'I'll be damned if Pelops take's my domain without a fight.' Ramius thought to himself furiously.

"We must get word to Lord Cronus so he can send reinforcements." Ramius's first prime said frantically.

"Order the Jaffa sent to the gate to contact Lord Cronus's home world and inform him what's happening." Ramius ordered his first prime.

With a quick bow the first prime left the room to carry out his orders.

Ramius stood at his desk pouring over a map of the city trying to determine which places would be best for setting up a defensive position. While most goa'uld would probably try to escape, and abandon everything and everyone just to ensure their own survival, Ramius refused to do that. He had worked and fought hard for what he had, while not much compared to other goa'uld, it was his and his alone and if Pelops wanted it, he was going to have to take it from his cold dead hands.

Ramius was broken out of his planning when he heard a quick rap on his door before a Jaffa rushed in.

"My lord, the chappa'ai is activating." The Jaffa quickly told him.

Striding to his balcony that overlooked the city centre, Ramius could see the chappa'ai in the city square surrounded by his many Jaffa pointing their staff weapons at the chappa'ai, even on the balcony Ramius heard the tell-tell sound of a hundred staff blasters being armed.

He knew it wasn't an outgoing wormhole because he could see the Jaffa he had commanded to call for reinforcements still running from the pyramid to the chappa'ai to carry out his order.

The final symbol locked the familiar 'WHOOSH' was heard as the chappa'ai opened and the steady blue event horizon appeared. Everyone from the Jaffa in the city square and the ones on the surrounding rooftops overlooking the chappa'ai to everyone in the pyramid complex including Ramius held their breath as they waited for what was ever coming through.

* * *

 **Tilgath Home World**

Agathon's approach to the conquest of Tilgath's world was vastly different to Pelops. Whereas Pelops plan was to degrade Ramius's defences to the point of them being ineffective and therefore no longer a large threat, Agathon was going to use surprise and overwhelming force to achieve his objectives.

Appearing out of hyperspace a mere five kilometres from the two Al'kesh hovering in orbit assigned to protect the world, he immediately raised his shields and powered his weapons.

"As soon as you have a lock on those two Al'kesh, open fire." He ordered the Jaffa. Agathon didn't have to wait long before he got his first kill's off the day.

"Firing now." The Jaffa operating the weapons control exclaimed.

Agathon saw the massive yellow plasma blasts rocket towards the Al'kesh on the right before impacting and exploding in shower of flames and debris that was visible even to Agathon from that distance.

The Al'kesh on the left came to life and tried to escape its fate before a plasma blast from Agathon's Ha'tak hit the vessel knocking it off its trajectory leaving it damaged and helpless as two more blast tore into the vessel destroying it.

"We must have caught them off guard, they didn't have time to escape let alone raise their shields." The Jaffa said excitedly.

What was even more important to Agathon was that if the enemy Al'kesh didn't have time to raise their shields, than chances are they didn't have time to send a communication to the surface warning Tilgath what was happening above his planet.

"Send out our death gliders to attack the planet and begin landing the ha'tak." Agathon ordered.

"Land the ha'tak…now?" The Jaffa manning the console asked astonished at the sheer audacity.

"Yes, right on top of Tilgath's pyramid." His eyes positively glowing in excitement and anticipation with his mouth twisted into a triumphant smirk.

* * *

The people in the city below were going about their business as usual during on what was considered a warm and fine day when the it suddenly clouded without warning causing them to gaze up in curiosity at was happening the sky. The clouds were behaving most oddly, it seemed to be rolling out from the centre of the storm, the same way water would form into a wave before crashing upon a shore.

The storm than started producing thunder that echoed loudly across the sky like the crack of a whip, startling the people in the city below out of there stupor causing them to back away in fear and in some cases causing others to start fleeing from the storm in fear.

Tilgath watched all this happen from balcony off his pyramid complex. What started out as just a routine day of planning and scheming for more power along with torturing and executing a few slaves for disobedience and failure to work was rapidly changing to a day of fear, for Tilgath knew exactly what that storm was and more importantly what was coming with it.

He scrambled from the balcony and began barking out orders to his Jaffa to prepare for battle but he knew it would all be for naught, if what was coming with that storm was any indication all the Jaffa he had on the planet will be completely powerless against what was coming, at the very least their sacrifice can buy him some time to escape.

Tilgath raced out of his throne room and ran for the communication suite, hopefully he could get a message out requesting help from his liege lord before he made his escape. As he approached the room he heard the familiar whine of a death glider soar over his pyramid meaning the enemy ha'tak must be close to the surface.

As he entered the suite to send his message he suddenly felt the entire complex start to shake as all the light coming in through the windows was slowly replaced by a descending darkness.

"Place Jaffa at all the ring transporters within the complex and prepare for imminent attack." Tilgath ordered his first prime.

Tilgath grabbed his golden Kara Kesh and placed on his hand before making his way out of the suite and toward his secret escape tunnel, hopeful that he could make it there before encountering any of this enemy's Jaffa.

* * *

Outside the people were running around in panic and terror over what was unfolding in front of them.

When the eye of the storm appeared, people thought that the storm was finally abating only to see small bird shape objects come down through the sky. As the objects got closer they heard a loud whining sound coming from them before the bird like object swooped over their heads flying so low they could've sworn that they could have reached up and touched it with their hands, but one of the more stranger things about it was that this bird appeared to be made out metal.

The metal 'bird' was joined by several others as they flew over the city few times putting on an aerobatic display before flying straight up into the sky and then doing a barrel roll and then heading towards the ground in a nose dive.

The people began to flee when they got closer and closer which was a good idea because not five seconds later golden blasts of fire erupted out of the birds and hit the ground exploding on impact killing dozens as well as damaging multiple buildings.

The people ran through the streets of the city screaming in horror searching for any and all cover too protect them from those 'fire birds' as they continued to strafe the city raining death and destruction on all those below.

As one man was crouched in the doorway of a building trying to avoid being spotted by the 'fire birds' he cast his gaze upwards to the storm still developing above the city and saw something emerging out of the eye of the storm that would forever be seared in his memory.

A massive floating golden pyramid was descending towards the ground with a low roar that reverberated throughout the city, the storm parting away from the pyramid in such a way that it seemed to fear it. There was a strange onyx coloured structure that was wrapped around the pyramid and jutted out of it like a claw.

The floating pyramid slowly descended onto his god's covering it completely from his view and landed with a dull thud that he felt it even though he was hundreds of metres away. He now knew why everything happened today, this was a battle between gods and he knew better than too stick around and watch, with that decision made he quickly checked the skies to see if there were any of those 'fire birds' close by and noticing there weren't he quickly bolted out of the doorway and ran for all his life towards the city outskirts. One way or another he just knew the city was not going to survive in one piece throughout this battle.

* * *

 **Thebes, Command Bunker**

Cadmus was in a deep discussion with his generals and advisors when an aide came into the room and whispered into his ear.

"The attack has begun. Is the uplink to Tilgath's and Ramius's worlds operational yet?" He asked one of the technicians manning a computer console in the room.

"The uplink should be coming through in a second my lord." The technician replied.

"Director is everything in position on the target's worlds?" Cadmus asked.

"Yes, my lord. The package has already been inserted and is awaiting pickup by the enemy and our teams are ready to intercept the targets."

"Are we sure the targets will act as predicted? We are risking exposure should the missions fail." One of the generals commented.

"Our operatives have been on the worlds for many years now having infiltrated every facet of that society via the cultivation of sources, from the Jaffa warrior class and higher privileged civilian echelons all the way down to the slave class. Through that level of embedding we have carefully gathered intelligence that our allows us to analyse our targets not just on a militarily or strategic level but also on a psychological level. This kind of in depth analysis allows us to predict there moves before our enemies even _decide_ what moves to make. We are confident in our analysis that our targets will act in a manner consistent with our profile of them, and on the remote chance they don't, we have contingencies in place to neutralise them should that become necessary." The director concluded, finishing his speech to the war cabinet.

Cadmus sat quietly through the speech because he agreed with the director, he knew that to defeat an enemy you had to know them through and through. He could see his war cabinet slowly coming around to the concept and he could understand why some of them were nervous though they hid it behind a face professional discipline.

They were going to conduct their first inter-planetary tactical operation and if it were to go wrong then not only could the intelligence operation be exposed but also Cadmus, Thebes itself and all it's inhabitants.

"My lord the uplink is ready." The technician reported.

The wall at the head of the table was dominated by a massive display screen that was transmitting information from all over the empire but now it was replaced by what appeared to be grainy fuzzy birds eye view image of a city. The image was being sent from a drone deployed by the operatives embedded on Ramius's world. This live video and all intelligence gained so far was all possible because of 'The Link'.

The _Link_ was a top-secret communications network that allowed operatives hidden on enemy worlds to transmit information and intelligence to Thebes with a low risk of exposure or enemy interception. The image of Ramius's city was being transmitted via an uplink on Ramius's home-world, from there it was then routed through a communication array hidden on a deserted planet, once there it was encrypted to prevent anyone from knowing the information contained and then sent to Thebes where it was deciphered and analysed for intelligence.

This was the culmination of ten years of research and development from the science academy and gave Cadmus an incredible weapon to be used against his current and future enemies.

"What planet are we looking at?" Cadmus asked.

"This transmission is coming in from the operatives on Ramius's world my lord." The technician replied.

"What about the one from Tilgath's world?"

"We're having trouble trying to get a safe connection. The operatives deployed there haven't set up the transmission device on their end."

"Very well. Get an update on their status." Cadmus ordered before turning his attention back to what was being transmitted on the screen.

The city appeared to be relatively intact but he could see people running through the city's streets in panic.

"Tell them to zoom in on that street intersection south of the stargate." Cadmus ordered.

The technician transmitted the order over his communication device and the image on the screen then zoomed in too an intersection that had stone houses on all sides about 500 metres from the stargate. The image wasn't perfect, all that was displayed was a black and white sometimes grainy image but Cadmus could make out the basic details of what appeared to be squad of Jaffa setting up a barricade with what looked like plasma cannon set up in the middle pointing towards the stargate.

"It looks like their setting up a second line of defence throughout the city. That barricade appears to be one of several set up throughout it." One of Cadmus's generals commented.

"The psychological profile did indicate that Ramius was the more tactical minded of the targets. It makes sense that he would know how to defend his domain better than Tilgath." Cadmus replied.

"Does that mean Ramius may yet prevail against Pelops, my lord?" One of the civilian advisors asked.

"Doubtful. Pelops simply has too many Jaffa for Ramius to defeat not to mention Pelops's Mothership in orbit. Though if he's smart enough he may be able to hold off defeat long enough until reinforcements arrive from his liege lord, assuming of course he was able to get a distress call out before the attack began." Cadmus replied.

"My lord the stargate is activating." The technician announced.

The image on the screen showed the birds eye view of the stargate along with what appeared to be roughly one hundred Jaffa surrounding it ready to open fire.

Everyone in the room was utterly silent as they watched the black and white image of the stargate activating with the large wave appearing out of it then rescinding back into it. For all of them except Cadmus, this was the first time seeing a stargate in action as they themselves did not possess one.

For Cadmus, this was… interesting. He of course had his 'mothers' memories to go on, so in a way he had seen a stargate many times but not by himself and not even in person…yet. No, the most interesting part of this was the fact that he was watching a war that he in a way instigated, if he hadn't sent along that information to Pelops than he probably wouldn't be attacking Ramius and Tilgath right now.

This offensive was going to cost many lives and cause untold destruction, bring pain and misery to hundreds if not thousands and here he was, the one who allowed it to happen watching it all from the safety and comfort of his bunker.

He supposed he should feel something like regret or even guilt over what he had done but if he was being perfectly honest… he didn't.

These three goa'uld were all potential obstacles to his rise that needed to be eliminated and if it is done over a mountain of corpses and cities of ashes, then so be it.

For Cadmus, all that mattered to him was the rise of his empire and the continued prosperity of his people. In his mind, everything else was secondary to those objectives.

He focused his thoughts back onto the live feed and watched and waited.

* * *

 **Ramius Home World**

The chappa'ai had been active for a few minutes now and nothing came through. The Jaffa closest to it were perplexed that nothing came thought the moment it was open and had cautiously approached it to determine what was happening.

The six Jaffa were slowly walking up the steps that led to the chappa'ai weapons at the ready when something small and metallic came through the water like liquid bouncing on the ground before rolling down the steps.

The six Jaffa approached the object curiously to inspect it, as they converged on it together they noticed that it was a metallic ball the size of a babe's head. One of them picked it up to inspect it when the captain of the Jaffa stationed at the chappa'ai noticed what was happening.

"NOOO!" The captain screamed out but it was too late.

The Jaffa holding it looked at the captain and then back to the object and noticed a red light blinking before he realised what he was holding, eyes widening in panic he tried to drop it but it was too late.

The six Jaffa were consumed in blinding white light that rendered them instantly unconscious and distorted the vision of every other Jaffa that had been watching.

The Jaffa that had been watching were rubbing their eyes in discomfort trying to get the white spots that had invaded their vision out, when they heard plasma fire cry out.

The Jaffa on the surrounding rooftops were fortunately far enough away to not be affected by the Tok'Kal grenade unlike the ones nearby so they were the only ones who responded when Jaffa started streaming out of the chappa'ai and firing.

The Jaffa who were close to the explosion were disorientated by the stun grenade didn't have the capability to fire back at the enemy Jaffa and were therefore cut down before they even fired a shot. Some of the more experienced ones hit the ground immediately and managed to avoid the initial salvo and started crawling along the ground back towards friendly forces all the while trying not to get noticed by the enemy Jaffa.

Ramius watched what was happening unfold stoically not showing any outward reaction. He knew just by the numbers of the enemy Jaffa alone streaming out of the chappa'ai that he would lose control of it. On the plus side, it seemed that his idea to place Jaffa on surrounding rooftops was a good idea as they were picking off the enemy one by one without incurring any casualties so far. The same couldn't be said for the Jaffa surrounding the gate, the ones that had survived the initial blast had been picked off by the first wave of enemy while the ones that had survived were slowly making their way towards the any semblance of cover to protect themselves.

As the ground battle raged on with what was becoming a veritable wall of plasma fire being exchanged by the combating Jaffa and with an increasing amount of enemy Jaffa bodies starting pile up around the chappa'ai and no clear victor in sight so far, Ramius left the balcony and went to his war room to get an update on the battle in space, hoping his precautionary gambit had payed off.

* * *

 **Orbit Above Ramius Home World**

The battle in space was going well so far, Pelops observed. The beginning of the battle was somewhat disconcerting as one of the Ramius's Al'kesh performed a suicide run straight into Pelops's Death Glider squadron using its superior size and firepower as an advantage causing the squadron to scatter to protect themselves, the run destroyed five out of his thirty strong squadron before being destroyed itself.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the first Al'kesh that scattered Pelops's Death Gliders, the second Al'kesh was now free to attack Pelops's Ha'tak without harassment for a short time. The Al'kesh immediately began a bombing run using its manoeuvrability and speed to its advantage.

Pelops watched the Al'kesh circle his Ha'tak on one of the heads-up display, the Al'kesh than turned around and began a second bombing run.

"Target the Al'kesh's engines when he begins his second run." Pelops ordered the Jaffa manning the weapons console.

"My lord, Ramius's death gliders are entering orbit and are taking up attack positions."

"Re-route our death gliders to intercept and prepare our reserve squadron for deployment." Pelops replied.

Turning back to the attacking Al'kesh, Pelops watched as it approached for a second bombing run. The plasma cannons on the ha'tak shot massive blasts of golden energy at the space craft but thanks to its speed and manoeuvrability and in many ways the skill of the pilot, it was able to dodge and weave through the heavy fire and only received a few glancing blows before it dropped its payload onto the Ha'taks shields.

Pelops felt the ship shake and groan under the bombardment but he was otherwise unfazed as he knew the shields could take a lot punishment before failing however he was beginning to get annoyed by this Al'kesh.

"Shields down to 94% my lord." A Jaffa reported.

'94%...hmm, that's still within an acceptable margin of damage' Pelops thought but it was time to finish this fight.

The plasma cannons were still firing but still missing.

"Deploy our reserve squadron to destroy the craft." Pelops commanded.

As the Jaffa relayed his instructions Pelops turned to the other battle happening in space. Off at the distance he could see small bright flashes in section of space and every now and then a much larger flash would occur.

"My lord, our reserve squadron is deploying." The Jaffa reported.

Pelops watched as his reserve squadron of thirty aircraft left the ship and headed towards the prowling Al'kesh.

The Al'kesh upon noticing the approaching squadron turned around and headed towards the surface at full speed.

The reserve squadron took off after it in full pursuit using their lighter weight and faster engines they quickly caught up with Al'kesh and started hammering it with plasma fire. While the Al'kesh does have heavy armour, it is particularly vulnerable at the rear end of the ship where the engines are, and after being hit by a dozen shots in the engines, the Al'kesh exploded showering the pursuing death gliders with debris.

'Two down, one to go.' Pelops thought to himself.

"My lord the enemy death gliders are breaking off their attacks and retreating back towards the surface."

Pelops noticed on the head's up display how the enemy death gliders who were just a few seconds ago were fighting with everything they had, were now turning around, and fleeing back towards the surface.

"They must have noticed the reserve squadron approaching. Have the first and reserve squadron form up and await my instructions. What were our losses?"

"The initial Al'kesh attack destroyed five. The attack and ensuring battle with the enemy death gliders destroyed a further six and damaged four, my lord."

'Hmm could be worse.' Pelops thought to himself.

"Very well. It's time to begin the second phase, alert the ground forces to begin preparations for departure." He ordered before leaving the Pel'tak and walking towards a ring transporter, various Jaffa were in the corridor and the immediately parted and bowed to him as made his way through.

Pelops appeared in one of the largest rooms on the ship after the hangar, it was large enough that it could easily fit in an Al'kesh if needed but it was completely empty all except for one thing, Pelops's chappa'ai. He walked to what would hopefully be the crushing blow to Ramius and his forces.

At the other side of the room, a massive door opened and in came his Jaffa invasion force. Walking shoulder to shoulder in perfect synchronisation with their staff weapons held tightly against them, they were the perfect picture of discipline. First came in five then ten then fifteen, more increasingly came in until over five hundred Jaffa were standing in position in front of the chappa'ai ready to attack with another fifteen hundred in reserve.

Pelops dialled the address to Ramius's chappa'ai and waited as it activated, lighting the whole room in a blueish-white glow.

Pelops allowed the chappa'ai to remain active for a few minutes before doing anything. He wanted the Jaffa on the other side to become nervous and anxious allowing their fear of the unknown to take over and inhibit their abilities.

Pelops held out his hand out in silent request as the Tok'Kal grenade was placed in his hands by a Jaffa. He activated the countdown on the grenade and watched as the blinking lights started counting down before he tossed it through the chappa'ai.

The entire room was silent as Pelops waited out the countdown, turning back towards the Jaffa he issued one simple command.

"GO."

The Jaffa than marched through the chappa'ai as Pelops stood in front of it with his hands clasped behind his back, his face giving nothing away except supreme confidence.

* * *

 **Tilgath Home world**

There was only one word that could be used to accurately describe what was happening on Tilgath's home world, chaos. Pure unadulterated chaos. People ran through the city screaming in terror as various Jaffa battled one another in brutal close quarters battle.

Agathon had orders to take the planet and its inhabitants in relatively one piece but once he got a taste of the destruction and chaos he was causing, all thoughts of preservation disappeared replaced with a blood lust that was replicated in his fellow Jaffa.

When the ha'tak had landed on the pyramid, Agathon ordered his Jaffa to immediately beam into the nearest ring transporters in the pyramid. Thankfully for him Tilgath's Jaffa were only just beginning to set up their defences when Agathon and his men beamed in, quickly defeating them, and securing the transporter rings for their own use.

Once Agathon had transported enough Jaffa to him he then sent them out in squads to secure the pyramid complex and surrounding areas. Because Tilgath had been caught surprise by the attack he didn't have enough time to give orders to his Jaffa to set up a proper defence, that failure led to various pockets of Jaffa scattered throughout the complex without any semblance of cohesion and most had hidden in the various rooms of the complex, so Agathon and his Jaffa had to conduct a level by level, room by room search of the entire pyramid complex to clear out the enemy Jaffa.

While Agathon had a numerical advantage over Tilgath's forces, they had a working knowledge of the complex and its many rooms, using that to their advantage they were able to set up several ambushes that took out several of Agathon's Jaffa, though he had many more back on the ship to replace them.

The lower levels of the complex contained mainly storage rooms and other rooms of non-importance. However, there was one room that was of relative importance, the dungeons. A squad of Jaffa was currently searching the lower levels when they reached the dungeons. The stone door slid out of the way revealing a stone staircase that descended below. They walked down the staircase cautiously arriving at a corridor with prison cells on both sides. The dungeons were a dismal place with the majority of it being stone and iron, the lighting was bad with only fire torches on the walls providing any light. There was also what appeared to be water leaking from the roof with water falling from several places into growing puddles on the floor, overall not that different from their own god's dungeons.

The Jaffa checked each individual cell, finding them all empty until the last one.

"Over here." One of the Jaffa called out to his squad.

The Jaffa walked over to the cell and looked in through the barred view hole on the otherwise solid iron door.

In the cell, they saw what appeared to be a man. They said appeared to be because the man looked to have been in here for years, he had long black hair that fell to his shoulders with grey hairs periodically streaking through it that would have given him a distinguished look if it wasn't so matted and frayed with what looked like dirt and mud mixed into it.

He also had a beard that matched it with a fuzzy greyish look that was large enough to probably have a small bird live in it with no problems.

"Probably some slave Tilgath was torturing. Might as well put him out of his misery." One of the Jaffa said with others nodding in agreement.

He opened the cell and readied his staff weapon to end this person's life when the man suddenly looked up at his forehead and barked out words that stopped them dead.

"JAFFA KREE"

The squad of Jaffa all stopped what they were doing and turned their gazes to the man that gave them an order of all things.

The person himself though he appeared to be broken shell of a man at least physically was staring at them with fierce unblinking stare that slightly unnerved them for some reason.

"Who are you to order a Jaffa, slave?" The executioner asked in a tone that showed just how angry the Jaffa was at this slave giving them an order.

"Who am I? I'm the one who turned you sorry excuses for Jaffa into the fighting force you are today. I'm the one who took the pathetic rabble that was called an army and turned them into the highly trained soldiers that their god demanded of them." The man replied in a raspy voice as if he hadn't been speaking for years, although the authoritative tone was still easy to hear.

"I'm the one who our god turns to when he problems he needs to solve. I'm the one who you bow to above everyone else except our god." As the man angrily ranted, the squad slowly approached the man staring at him in bewilderment at what he was saying and wondering why this sounded familiar.

One of them realised who was talking and kneeled in subservient.

"What are you doing?" One of the standing Jaffa hissed.

"He's doing what is expected of him as should the rest of you." The 'slave' answered cutting off whatever answer the kneeling Jaffa was going to say.

"Who are you?" The Jaffa asked whipping up his staff weapon and arming it with the familiar sound followed by the rest of the squad doing the same.

"I'm the one who came before whatever master you serve now." The 'slave' replied standing up with a grimace as his bones cracked into place.

As it dawned on them just who they were conversing with, they all kneeled in subservience as one of them finally asked the question they all had.

"You're supposed to be dead." One of them whispered.

"Apparently not. Now help me out of here and take me to our god." The man ordered.

The squad of Jaffa scrambled to follow his order and placed the man's arms around their shoulders as they helped him walk.

"Where is your master now?" The man asked.

"He's on the upper levels clearing out the enemy pockets of resistance." A Jaffa answered.

"Then take me there now."

"Yes, Master Alexander."

* * *

 **Ramius Home World**

The battle over the chappa'ai was slowly being dominated by the numerically superior forces of Pelops. The square itself was covered in dead Jaffa some still smouldering from plasma wounds with not a single centre meter spared of either a dead body or blood.

The Jaffa on the surrounding rooftops had slaughtered the incoming enemy Jaffa using their height advantage to devastating effect, however overwhelming numbers is an advantage by itself and soon the rooftop Jaffa were retreating as the incoming fire was getting increasingly accurate already having lost half their number.

They retreated to the second lines of defence that were set up throughout the city. All through the city barricades were in place being staffed with the reserve Jaffa who were ready to bleed the enemy Jaffa every step of the way.

Ten Jaffa were at one barricade with their weapons ready aiming up the small narrow street awaiting the enemy Jaffa.

When they got the first sight of the enemy they opened fire with a massive salvo of plasma cutting down at least a dozen of them as the rest sought cover in the doorways as they tried to return fire. The ones armed with zat'nik'tels had the best chance of hitting the Jaffa at the barricades as they could fire with one hand and use the doorways as cover providing them protection, the others who were armed with just staff weapons… well they could try and fire back but because the weapons were so long and required two hands to properly use them, they ended up missing often.

"Covering fire" One of the squad leaders called out.

All at once the Jaffa who carried zat'nik'tels opened fire at the barricade bathing it in blue fire. The defenders had to take cover quickly or risk being hit, that allowed the attacking Jaffa with staff weapons to finally leave cover and bring their weapons to bare.

Soon enough the barricade was disintegrating under the withering rate of fire and the defenders had to decide whether to flee or keep on fighting.

"Fall Back" One of the defenders cried out, as they fled the barricade and ran down the street.

The squad leader saw the defenders flee and ordered his Jaffa to hold fire. He turned around and saw the dozen or so Jaffa killed on the ground and noticed that there were no casualties on the other side of the barricade.

"A dozen dead just to take this barricade." He muttered to himself shaking his head at the futility of it.

"Move out." He ordered as thought about what else might be lying in wait for them.

All through the city the advancing Jaffa were stopped by these barricades that required time and blood to bypass.

Pelops Jaffa quickly caught on to what Ramius and his Jaffa were doing. If their god wanted this domain he was going to have to pay for it in a legion of blood.

Slowly but surely Pelops Jaffa overcame the barricades though not without losing a significant amount of their numbers, their dead having been left in the streets where they died sometimes on top of each other.

As one they all converged on the most heavily protected area of the city, the pyramid complex.

Because the pyramid complex was so heavily protected Pelops Jaffa bypassed it completely when they had secured the chappa'ai in favour of taking and controlling the city. Now they surrounded the pyramid on all sides.

Ramius observed the position he was in from the command centre in his pyramid as he overlooked a monitor and saw his secondary defences had been overcome. The only positive aspect he had was that Pelops had lost a large portion of his forces securing the city.

"My Lord it's ready." His first prime said to him.

"Good. What's the status of the Death Gliders?"

"Pelops gliders are holding position in orbit for now. As for our forces, out of the initial 30 we deployed we lost 18."

"Mark the enemy firing positions and send their location to our death gliders. Tell them to initiate an end run." Ramius ordered.

"Yes, my lord."

Ramius was left alone in the command centre as his first prime went off to carry out his order leaving him to plan his final move against this old enemy. He walked over to a panel in the wall and pressed his palm to it, as he did that a crack in the wall appeared as the once hidden door now revealed itself.

"Let's see how handle this my _old friend_." Ramius muttered as he entered the room.

* * *

 **Tilgath Home World**

The Jaffa begged for his life pitifully before Agathon executed him, his torso smouldering from the plasma blast that had killed him. Agathon and his squad of Jaffa had been working their way to the top of the pyramid complex, encountering resistance along the way the higher they went, the heavier the resistance. Agathon had taken losses but nothing that wasn't easily replaced with more from the Ha'tak.

Agathon had been searching the complex for Tilgath but it seemed the false god had slipped away in the chaos.

"Order half our death gliders into orbit to take up defensive positions then tell the other half to start patrolling the skies, that should prevent Tilgath from trying to escape by ship." He ordered.

"It will be done master." One of the Jaffa replied before leaving.

Agathon and his men carried out searching the upper levels encountering no resistance along the way.

"The rest of Tilgath's Jaffa must be in the city, master." One of the Jaffa commented.

"It seems so. Contact the ha'tak tell them deploy the rest of our forces into the city and hunt down Tilgath's remaining Jaffa." He ordered.

As Agathon searched the rooms looking for any information he heard a commotion out in the hallway and went to investigate.

When he arrived in the hallway he saw a group of Jaffa arguing with another group who were holding up another…person, though calling this thing a person was being generous in his honest opinion.

"What is the meaning of this?" He snapped out, instantly quieting the arguing Jaffa as they turned their attention to him.

"Master, these Jaffa here say they have an urgent matter they have to tell you. They insist that you have to listen to what this person has to say."

"The _person_ you are talking about is right here and can talk for himself Jaffa." The man grounded out with a gravel like voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in years.

"Oh? So, what does this person have to say." Agathon asked curiously as he approached the figure to look him in the eyes to intimidate him.

The figure looked up at Agathon with a ferocity that it had slightly unnerved him and curiously seemed familiar but from where?

"Out of all the candidates that our god could have picked to replace me, why in all that is holy did he choose you?" The figure sneered out.

"I mean you weren't the worst but you certainly weren't the best, then again it would be tough to find a replacement that could live up to the standards I set, but still." The figure continued, looked him silently evaluating and found him wanting.

As for Agathon he was experiencing a myriad of emotions from complete and utter bewilderment from the words that were being spoken to him from a slave of all people than onto silent all-encompassing rage that left him quivering from head to toe as the slave finished insulting and berating him as if he was a misbehaving child.

"What did you say?" Agathon hissed out, standing nose to nose with the man, his rage evident in his voice to all who heard it.

The figure took his arms off the Jaffa shoulders that were helping him walk and stood up with a determination that belied his haggard and wounded appearance.

"What I'm saying Agathon is this. I did not waste all those years training these Jaffa just for you to throw their lives away like they are common slaves and with that our god's victory and triumph. So, you will have to forgive my impertinence but I'm here to take charge of this operation and I now command you to stand aside."

Agathon was stunned speechless, his left eye twitching in fury. Snarling he brought his staff weapon up intending to execute this person where he stood, when the person in question grabbed the staff weapon and yanked it toward himself pulling Agathon off balance than thrusted the butt end of the weapon back into Agathon's stomach winding him while relieving him of his weapon, another strike from the weapon to the back of Agathon's knee forced him to kneel before the person who had soundly defeated him in five moves like he was an amateur not a first prime.

The strike to his gut was strong and he was still getting his breath back when he looked up into the eyes of his defeater.

"Who…who are you?" Agathon gasped out between breaths.

"Why Agathon I'm insulted. How can you not remember your old master?" The figure asked as if he was gravely hurt as he aimed the staff weapon at Agathon's head.

The Jaffa who were with Agathon were snapped out their stunned stupor and all readied their weapons to kill when the Jaffa who had come with the figure quickly put themselves in front of Agathon and his defeater as they quickly whispered what was unfolding before them, their eyes widening the more they heard.

As for Agathon he was still coming to terms with the fact that his master was alive after all this time and was now standing before him ready to kill him.

'No that's not possible' He thought furiously.

"You can't be alive. Your dead!" Agathon shrilled out near hysterical at what had befallen him today on what was supposed to be his moment of triumph and victory.

"Then I guess you can call this a rebirth. Perhaps you yourself will experience a rebirth" Alexander moved his head closer to Agathon to whisper his final words to him. "Though between you and me, I doubt it."

Alexander stood back up and aimed the weapon at Agathon's head.

In that moment Agathon saw his entire life flash before his eyes, everything he had done, everything he had accomplished and all the things he still wanted to do.

"No wai— "The plasma blast cut Agathon off forever as the plasma blast blew his head right off showering the Jaffa standing behind him in blood and gore as Agathon's now headless kneeling corpse collapsed to the ground with a gentle thud.

The Jaffa that had witnessed this execution were all staring wide eyed unblinkingly at the corpse, their heavy breathing the only sounds in the corridor that could be heard before casting their petrified gaze on their resurrected master and quickly kneeled in subservience.

"Wh-what is yo-your command master?" One of the Jaffa asked managing to stutter out the question.

Their master was staring at the corpse when he heard the question and then turned his amused gaze at the Jaffa, merely providing them a smirk as his answer.

* * *

Tilgath was currently making his way down his escape tunnel. He knew that he had lost and had given his Jaffa orders to fight to the last man. He knew they would lose but hopefully their deaths would buy him enough time to make it to his escape ship.

He approached the end of the tunnel and came to a solid naquadah door that protected the entrance, he entered a code only known to him into a keypad allowing the door to open into a wooded area on the outskirts of his city.

From here he could see that his once prosperous city was now in the control of this unknown enemy. Plumes of black smoke from burning buildings billowing into the sky, as death gliders circled the city like hungry vultures over a dying animal. Even from here Tilgath could hear screams from the city below.

"Whoever did this will pay." He vowed to himself.

All he had to do was make it to his liege lord and request reinforcements to defeat this unseen enemy, then he would make the attacker pay dearly for attacking 'The Great Tilgath', ideas for how he would punish and torture the attackers flowed into his mind drowning out the destruction and horror that was happening in the city below.

He was so engrossed in his bloodlust that he failed to notice a figure creeping up behind him.

Tilgath was planning a new torture technique that had just popped into his mind, when he heard a whistle come from behind him, he turned around in curiosity not caution, not for one second questioning why there was a whistle all the way out here.

A flash of blue light overwhelmed his vision before blackness then unconsciousness took over as he collapsed to the ground all but dead to the world.

* * *

 **Ramius Home World**

Pelops's Jaffa had surrounded the pyramid complex on all sides. Though taking heavy loses they had managed to defeat the various barricades that had been set up and now controlled the city. Ramius's remaining Jaffa had now barricaded themselves in the complex ready for a last stand, all ready to die in the name of their god.

The various Jaffa captains were gathered together in a house close to the complex making battle plans on how to take the complex when they heard a distinctive sound coming from above. They all went outside and looked up in to the skies above.

"About time the death gliders showed up. If they were here earlier they could have helped us take out those cursed barricades." One of the captains said aloud with the other captains nodding and murmuring in agreement.

They could see the squadron of death gliders diving towards them, their engines getting louder and louder the closer to the surface they got.

"Are they going to pull up?" A Captain asked.

No, they weren't but by the time the Jaffa on the ground noticed that, it was too late.

"They should have already done so unless…" A Captain muttered quietly, eyes widening in panic he realised what was happening.

"TAKE COVER! ALL SQUADS TAKE COVER NOW!" The captain cried out a few seconds too late as the first plasma blast's hit the Jaffa positions, men and equipment flying in various all directions as the ground exploded beneath them.

The Jaffa than abandoned their firing positions and took cover in wherever they could find doorways, buildings even craters in the ground that had been created in the initial ground battle.

The death gliders continued to fire relentlessly at the Jaffa positions not even slowing down to pull up. They continued to fire at the ground right up until they slammed into the ground in a fiery explosion larger than anything they had caused seconds before with their weapons.

Each death glider did the exact same thing, fire with wild abandon at the Jaffa on the ground and then use their gliders as a final weapon.

One by one each glider completed their final mission, one they had been taught to do since their birth, one they were happy to do because their god would reward them in the afterlife, and none of them hesitated as they each completed their 'end run'.

Dazed and confused, the Jaffa captains picked themselves off the ground and looked at the destruction that had just unfolded.

Massive fires had started in buildings and were raging away as the Jaffa on the ground tried to help their injured or dead comrades. The death gliders that committed what could only be described as an act of madness were crumpled and broken in debris that spread out all over the place as the cries and screams of any of the poor slaves that been caught in the attack reverberated across the city.

"That's it." One of the captains declared, his head bloodied from the attack. "I want all Jaffa to assault the complex now!"

The captains nodded in agreement as they went to bark out the orders to the surviving Jaffa.

About three hundred Jaffa that were still in fighting condition than stormed out of their positions and up the massive stone steps that led to the pyramid. As they made their way up the stairs, an explosion was heard from the top of the pyramid as stone and bricks rained below. Quickly dodging the falling debris, the Jaffa than stopped their assault and looked at what appeared to several implosions emanating from the top levels of the pyramid.

The explosions seemed to be coming from the inside on all sides of the pyramid and then they just abruptly stopped. The Jaffa on the ground were baffled as to what had caused these explosions, as far as they knew none of their forces were in there yet.

Before they could think further on what had happened, one massive explosion came from the top completely vaporising the top levels of the pyramid, debris rained all over the city as a dust cloud billowed out.

As the Jaffa rubbed the dust from their eyes they heard a low rumbling noise emitting from the pyramid and looked upwards and saw a sight they couldn't quite believe.

Emerging from the damaged pyramid like a rising phoenix was Ramius's third Al'kesh. Dust and small debris from the pyramid rolled off the Al'kesh as it rose higher and higher from the pyramid.

The Al'kesh came to a halt and hovered mid-air staring at the Jaffa on the ground like it was a god sitting in judgement of them, and as far as the Jaffa was concerned there really was a god in that ship, Ramius.

"Open Fire!" Someone called out.

The Jaffa all raised their staff weapons and fired at the hovering vessel but they were wasting their efforts as they couldn't hope to pierce the heavy armour of the Al'kesh. The Jaffa were so busy firing at the Al'kesh they didn't see Ramius's remaining Jaffa charging out of the pyramid until it they were right on top of them fighting them tooth and nail with any weapon they could find.

With the Jaffa on the ground distracted the Al'kesh powered up its engines and ascended into space preparing to escape the war-torn world.

 **Orbit Above Ramius Home World**

Pelops was in the Pel'tak when he witnessed the suicide run Ramius's Jaffa performed on his view screen and he had to admit, to himself at least, that not even he considered Ramius crazy enough to destroy his own city and men to ensure his own escape.

Although he couldn't show it for fear of someone noticing he wasn't omnipotent, he was immensely surprised when he saw the Al'kesh emerge from the pyramid and cursed himself for not planning for every eventuality.

"Order the death gliders to intercept that Al'kesh." He could not allow Ramius to escape, not after all this time.

The orbiting death gliders immediately dived to the direction of the approaching Al'kesh and started firing.

Though the Al'kesh was a large ungainly looking vessel it was surprisingly agile and like the Al'kesh in the previous space battle it could perform some truly awe-inspiring manoeuvres to dodge the plasma blast coming its way and with Ramius at the helm hitting the Al'kesh, hitting the vessel and causing damage was going to be difficult.

'He knows he can't escape.' Pelops thought as he watched the moving vessel dodge his death gliders and turn towards him.

"Weapons control, Open fire on that vessel." He ordered to the Jaffa.

The vessel nimbly dodged the incoming fire and proceeded towards the ha'tak.

'Something's not right here.'

"My lord we're getting an incoming message from the vessel. Audio only."

"Put it on."

" _If I lose than I'm going to make sure everyone loses. Goodbye Old Friend."_ Ramius's voice rumbled through out the pel'tak.

'That crazy fool is going to ram us.' Pelops thought in alarm

"My lord scans are indicating the Al'kesh's engine is set to overload."

"No!" He whispered.

"Divert all power to the shields!" He roared out to the crew.

The Al'kesh impacted the shields and crumpled within itself before the engine overloaded in massive explosion, so bright it was like the crew were witnessing an exploding sun. Thankfully for Pelops he had diverted enough power to his shields that he wasn't killed in the explosion, but it was large enough to knock the entire crew off their feet and blow out several instruments causing sparks and shrapnel to fly everywhere.

"He actually did it." Pelops muttered as picked himself of the ground.

"Status?"

"My lord, shield strength down to 48%, and our hyperdrive has been knocked offline, we only have sunlight engines.

'Could be worse' Pelops thought.

"Prepare for landing and begin repairs on the hyperdrive." Pelops ordered as viewed the wreckage of the Al'kesh and the final resting place of his foe through his view screen.

"Well done Ramius, you achieved nothing." Pelops whispered venomously.

* * *

 **Ramius Home World**

"It appears your ploy worked my lord."

Observing the massive ha'tak vessel descending onto his city with smoke coming from it after it's encounter with his Al'kesh was the 'dead' man himself Ramius.

"So, it would seem." He replied.

Standing on a hill in the outskirts of the city, Ramius had engineered his own demise or in this case apparent demise. Years ago, when he encountered another rival goa'uld and who he subsequently fought a battle with, which caused him to change hosts, he realised that one day he may need an 'exit plan' so to speak, one that would buy him enough time to escape.

Like all goa'uld he had an escape craft nearby but he also knew that any attacking goa'uld would be on the lookout for an escape craft with a fleeing goa'uld unless they already thought you were dead. So, to ensure that his death would be believable he came up with an audacious plan that fool all but the most intelligent of goa'uld.

Burying his third Al'kesh inside his pyramid had not been easy but if done right it could provide an interesting surprise for any invading force, and today certainly proved that.

To ensure the secrecy of his third Al'kesh, he kicked out all non-essential persons out of the city while the project was underway, all those he removed lived in tents in the forest for several months while the pyramid was altered to fit the Al'kesh, once the renovations were completed Ramius executed all the builders and laborers with knowledge of the project to ensure its secrecy.

As for the Al'kesh itself, the vessel was modified to be remotely controlled from the surface allowing Ramius to fly the vessel without ever being in it. Using a pre-recorded message that was be broadcasted to the enemy ship before colliding with it so that it would fool whoever was attacking into believing that Ramius was on board the Al'kesh, once the vessel exploded the attacker would assume that Ramius was dead, allowing him to slip away off planet without anyone the wiser.

"Come we must escape while they still think I'm dead. Once we make it to Lord Cronus and get reinforcements, then I will return and I have my revenge." Ramius vowed.

As he walked to his escape ship he noticed his first prime wasn't following him.

"Hurry up! We haven't much time. The longer we stay here, the more risk we are in of being discovered. We have to make it off world so we can come back and deal with Pelops when we have reinforcements." Ramius snapped to his slow witted first prime.

The first prime in question merely continued to stand in one place, staring at Ramius with a smile.

"Unfortunately for you my lord, I've already made a deal." The first prime replied evenly.

Eyes narrowing suspiciously at the tone of his first prime, Ramius slowly turned around to face him.

"What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

The first prime stared at his god with a lazy smirk, before he whipped out his zat'nik'tel and fired at his god, his god crumpling to the ground in a heap. Walking over to the body on the ground he noticed that his god was still slightly conscious with his eyes opening and closing tiredly.

"What I mean is, Pelops contacted me several months ago with a better offer. You see he's the new rising power and I intend to be their every step of the way as his new first prime. However, to prove my loyalty I had to hand over you. It wasn't easy today, I had to wait for the perfect moment when you were alone and now here we are, ah look here comes Pelops's Jaffa to take you." The first prime said as a squad of Jaffa approached them on foot.

"Jaffa Kree!" The first prime called out waving them over, before turning his attention back to his 'former' god.

"Goodbye _my lord_ , I fear this will be the final time we see each other." The first prime said finishing his betrayal with a firm kick to the side of Ramius's head knocking him out completely.

The first prime looked down at the unconscious form of his 'former' god with a sneer of disgust before turning his attention to the squad of Jaffa who had arrived.

"You are the spy?" one of the Jaffa asked the prime.

"I am and as discussed I have delivered my end of the bargain, presenting the 'god' Ramius." He said waving to downed god on the floor.

"Secure him." One of the Jaffa ordered as another began securing Ramius's hands in manacles.

"Now it's time for my reward, take to Pelops so I can pledge my allegiance." The first prime said with happiness.

The Jaffa looked at him with smiles, that for some reason unnerved him.

"Pelops…right. Well allow us to escort you their personally." The Jaffa in charge said as they began leaving the secluded area.

"Very well then. Tell me what is Pelops like, we have only talked via a communication device and if I'm to be his new first prime I will need to— _aachk_ " The first prime hit the dirt dead thanks to a plasma blast to the back of his head.

The squad of 'Jaffa' barely blinked an eye at the execution as stood over the body that was now missing a massive chunk of his head.

"We're five minutes behind schedule. Grab the prisoner, we have twenty minutes to get to the escape ship and make it to the rendezvous point in space. Let's move."

A 'Jaffa' threw the unconscious Ramius over his shoulder and left with the rest of his squad as the rest started removing their silver armour as they walked revealing the black cloaks underneath.

* * *

 **Pelops Colony World (Former Ramius Home World)**

Pelops was sitting on a marble throne in the audience chamber of his deceased foe and he had to admit that it was truly a chamber befitting for a god. Six massive marble columns wrapped in colourful fabric added some colour to the otherwise porcelain white chamber.

It had been several days since his conquest of his enemies and Pelops had been feeling rapturous ever since. He had defeated his betrayer and increased domain significantly. Ramius had this home world plus three resource worlds under his control and they along with Tilgath's four worlds all now belonged to him.

Pelops was currently receiving pledges of allegiance from Ramius's and Tilgath's defeated Jaffa, well the ones that had managed to survive. Whenever a goa'uld was defeated the Jaffa that had served the defeated goa'uld had a choice, swear fealty to the victor or die. Most chose to swear fealty.

Speaking of Jaffa, Pelops turned his head to the first prime standing next to him, Alexander. To say that his apparent survival was surprise would be an understatement. According to Alexander when he sacrificed the ship he was on to prevent the discovery of Pelops and his plans, he managed to make to an escape pod and left the doomed vessel.

However, before he could make it to the surface of the planet, he was picked up by the ha'tak that had found them earlier. For the next several months he was tortured for information and subject to horrific treatment. Alexander told that goa'uld all the information he knew…on Ramius. That goa'uld than attacked Ramius using the information given to him only to be defeated by Ramius, that saw Alexander being captured by Ramius where he been imprisoned since then.

When Pelops first saw Alexander again it took all his control not to show his utter surprise. Alexander had certainly looked like he had seen better days and ordered the Ramius's now Pelops's lo'taur to tend to him and help him recover.

A hot bath and some personal grooming had done wonders for Alexander. Where once his hair matted and covered in dirt and muck, it was now cropped short and had a distinguished look about. He had also shaved the gruesome beard had grown and now sported a smooth cleaned face. Overall, he looked about fifty years younger than he previously did.

Pelops was drawn out of his musing as the Jaffa before him finished their pledges of loyalty and every dying devotion.

Pelops stood up from his throne before he began his speech.

"Let all know that Pelops is a merciful god and accepts all who worships the one true god that is Pelops into his grasp and loving embrace. I hereby accept these Jaffa into my service, may their faith and loyalty never waiver." Pelops finished.

The five hundred people who were in the audience chamber all dropped to their knees and began chanting.

"All Hail Pelops"

"All Hail Pelops"

"All Hail Pelops"

"All Hail Pelops"

"All Hail Pelops"

Pelops looked before the crowd with a serene smile as he basked in their worship of him and his divinity.

* * *

Alexander was making his was to his temporary quarters, peoples bowing and moving out of his way as walked down the corridor.

As he entered his room he began thinking about his day. Pelops had spent most of the day in the audience chamber with his new subjects while also overseeing the repairs being made to his ha'tak. Alexander checked the door to his room was locked before he went to the bathroom.

He splashed some water over his face before he closed the bathroom door. Taking off his armour and chainmail until he was left in just his undershirt. He took off his shirt until he was topless and stared at his reflection in the mirror and more specifically the symbiote pouch in his torso before he took a deep breath.

He reached his hand into the pouch, grunting in discomfort as he felt the symbiote within it before he pushed his hand in further and then pulled out what he was looking for.

He washed the object in the basin cleaning off the pus and assorted gunk on it before he dried it off and opened his hand.

The hand-held communication device was now ready to use.

" _Authenticate."_

"Let all true servants kneel before the glory that is Cadmus."

" _Send report."_

* * *

 **Thebes, Private Laboratory**

Cadmus was in one of his secret laboratories looking over his most recent acquisitions when his personal communicator signalled.

"Speak."

" _My Lord, we've received a communication from operative TROJAN. He's in."_

Now that bought a smile to his face.

"Well done director. Keep me informed of his progress."

" _Yes, My Lord."_ The director replied.

Cadmus turned his attention back to two monitors that had been set up to observe his 'guests'. On the monitor's he saw Ramius and Tilgath still unconscious strapped to surgical examination tables in separate containment rooms.

Cadmus brought up some initial scans of their bodies he had taken and began examining them.

"Now let's see what makes you tick, shall we."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Holy shit 16000 words, I can honestly tell you that I am exhausted. First off let me apologise for taking so long to update. There's no excuse just good old laziness mixed with procrastination so once again I'm sorry. The only reason I've gotten this chapter out is because I'm on break and have been writing every day, in fact I've this is my last day off before I go back to college.**

 **So a few things about this chapter:**

 **1\. I made the Jaffa reasonably effective here than what's shown on T.V. I know when compared to SG:1 and modern military tactics the Jaffa pretty much become the stormtroopers of the SG universe (completely pathetic) but when compared to other Jaffa they must have some skills, look at Teal'c and Bra'tac. Also I think it's makes the story more interesting.**

 **2\. If your looking for historical and scientific accuracy you should probably read a different story because this is none here. I said in a previous chapter that I will be taking the CSI approach to things like that, as in "If it sounds realistic it's good enough." So don't light me up if there's something in here that is not completely accurate.**

 **3\. In this chapter you've gotten a real glimpse at how Cadmus will be defeating his enemies. Instead of the shock and awe tactics that other goa'uld use, he will be using deception, infiltration, misdirection and tactical strikes to overcome his opponents. He will only use use all out military force where necessary.**

 **4\. I'm sure there are other things I should explain but I'm absolutely exhausted and if I see another word document soon, I'm going to lose it. So if you have any questions about something I haven't explained here just send a PM.**

 **So leave your reviews about what you think so far and if you any ideas or directions you would like to see the story go in, send a message.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Thank you.**


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